Having two people look alike and making them swap places is a time-tested formula. From Seeta Aur Geeta in Hindi down to several films in several languages it has been tried with various degrees of success.

And now director M Vinu is venturing forth with the same idea in his Mayilattam, starring Jeyaram in dual role. The story, predictably, is straightforward: One is simple and hard working and the other is rough and street-smart.

Jeyaram figures as Devan, an honest agriculture up against the wiles and guiles of a local zamindar. The other Jeyaram is a fighting exponent Palani. Of course, the two have female complements in the form of Rambha and Indraja. Not surprisingly, one of them, happens to be the villain zamindars daughter.

Of course, to provide comic relief there is the huge entourage of Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Jagathy and Kalabhavan Mani. Then there are also the likes of Janardhanan, Vijayaraghavan, Sai Kumar, Riyaz Khan and Bindu Panickkar.

The strong point of the movie is, the director says, is comedy. It is all out fun, he says. The film has been extensively shot in Pollachi. Cinematographer Venugopal has cranked the film while the up and coming Jeyachandran has scored the music.

For Jeyaram, long used to comedy roles, this film is a romp. But he is said to have relished the challenge of double role.

Jolly Stephen is the producer.