I.V. Sasi’s latest outing Vellathooval has unfortunately turned out to be a letdown in his career as the film’s storyline is so simple that it ends up being silly, even trivial!

Vellathooval revolves around Jiya (Nithya), a highly volatile teenager who is yearning for true love! She believes the main reason for her agonies is her strict mother (Seema). Jiya always takes offence at the restrictions imposed by her mom and has a habit of walking out
of her home whenever trouble brews for her.

Manu (Rejith Menon), her neighbour and classmate, also has a troubled life. His stepfather, who is always drunk, makes life hell for him and his hapless mother (Seetha). Manu decides to leave home for a better life on an old motorcycle, which brings memories of his dead
father. Jiya also joins Manu without a clear destination in mind. Things get serious when Jiya’s parents realize that their darling girl has eloped with Manu.

Unlike I.V. Sasi’s earlier movies, the most important factor missing in Vellathooval is the chemistry between lead players, though they have a nice time riding across a picturesque land, where they sing songs in the rain. It could be a change in premise, but there are no real surprises and the story meanders along on predictable lines.

Nithya’s characterization seems to be out of place; the director even makes an unconvincing effort to establish her character by getting her to trespass into a church in the middle of the night to quench her thirst by drinking holy wine. Renjith’s performance is good, but that does not make an impact. On the performance side too the film is not up to the mark.

‘Goal’ fame Rejith Menon and ‘Akashagopuram’ fame Nithya are apt choices for the lead role.

But Nithya’s dialogue delivery is extremely poor. Her performance too falters at many places. Rejith is OK. Seetha, Ganesh, Laloo Alex, Sreelatha, Vijayaraghavan and Jagathy Sreekumar have done their respective roles well. Seema as the heroine’s mother is good, but someone else should have dubbed for her.The film does not have credibility in many sequences. For instance, the cops, who often fail to nab Jiya and Manu, are shown as mere jokers in uniforms.

Technically the film is average. The songs don’t have much impact. You get nothing new out of ‘Vellathooval’, either on the story side, or on the treatment side. The film on the whole lacks appeal and can very well be avoided.