From the stable of late director - cinematographer Jeeva, Sreenath heavily inspired by his mentor's style of making sensible cinema has made a mark that is only mediocre with 'Muthirai'.

Borrowing Hollywood scripts is not new for us and that don't stagnate the flow of the movie even though it begins in an Italian Job style plot to rob the bank. The hi-tech and astute robber Alagu (Daniel Balaji) has his own set of rules and a humane guy who helps another in distress. The other guy here happens to be a local thug himself famed for his picking in the village named Sathya (Nithin Sathya).

When we think the duo is going to execute a master plan to loot the most secured bank or maybe a jewelry shop, it turns disappointing as everything including a mishap during a robbery ends within the first few minutes of the movie. So, how does the plot travel? It actually is based on the confounding mystery that prevails over the death of Chief Minister (Saravanan).

So, it goes like the cop and robber chase as unknown to the thugs, their next door neighbhor of Alagu happens to be the crucial key behind this planned murder. Before all this happens, we also get acquainted with the female leads of the movie Lakshmi Rai and debutante Manjari Phadnis. Balaji's fake marriage that hurts Lakshmi is sensible but Sathya love for Arthi (Manjari Phadnis) on first look for no reason at all doesn't appeal. The romance part of the film is literally absent but the glamour treat is amply served by Lakshmi Rai. Adding her own share is Rakhi Sawant exclusively imported from Mumbai for an item number.

In an accidental encounter, Chethan holding the important video in his laptop enters Alagu's apartment and also dies leaving it in their car while they flee for their lives. Now, we really can?t help but to sit up and see how these brilliant thugs elude cops to do something interesting. But, unfortunately they simply drag the sabotaged Mercedes into a native village and just rest there making phone calls. Whew!

The drama continues with both the girls dressed in skimpy costumes with an excuse that they are in a native village with no other go while commissioner (Kishore) is hunting the foursome. Riyaz Khan is also a part of the cast in the role of a commando and he confronts to get the evidence but dies a gory death. The video points Aadhikesavan (Ponvannan) as the culprit but as a matter of fact the whole plot ends in a contrived climax where all lose ends are tied up so hurriedly that there is little time left for us to grasp the ongoing scenes.

'Muthirai' sounds disparate in the title but doesn't rivet with the plot. Daniel Balaji looks good and emotes well while Nithin Sathya does his part ably. Even though its clichéd the cops chasing them after a heist or a brilliantly executed burglary would have made the movie a better watch. The men and women have absolutely no chemistry except romancing in the duets set in foreign locales. And, music composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja is again a mediocre outing with 'Om Shanthi Om' just passing out.

The good part of 'Muthirai' is in the unraveling plot that twists every minute and finally how the robbers go for a happily ever after ending which is out-of-the-box for Tamil cinema where honest cops usually penalize even the most good man for killing a notorious criminal.

A neat background score, soothing camera work and notably the slick editing are the highlights of 'Muthirai' yet the dragging narration gains momentum only near the climax to end abruptl

Verdict: An Average Flick