Puppy - Funfilled entertainer with a cute message

Puppy - Nattu Dev who is well known in the short film circuit debuts as a director with 'Puppy' which was largely promoted as an adult comedy.  But what awaits the viewers is a surprising message-driven movie that would connect well with its majorly targeted youth audience 

Prabhu (Varun) is a happy go lucky college senior who gets suspended for watching pornography in the classroom and seeks the help of a senior football aspirant Yogi Babu to get laid.  The one soul that Prabhu truly loves is his female Labrador Puppy. After a series of bungles, Prabhu hits on the new tenant in his building Ramya (Samyukta Hegde) and gets her pregnant even as puppy also is in the family way.  As Prabhu tries to abort the pregnancy a chain reaction ensues that leads to a climax when the boy comes of age sheds his selfishness and becomes man.

Varun is aptly cast as the single child who has enough innocence in him to be likable and shows the confused state of a man in his early twenties perfectly.  His comedy timing is a big plus and his interactions with his mother and father without any sugar-coating helps in establishing the boy next door image.   The director has extracted long flowing dialogues from Varun in many sequences which he has done without a glitch though it becomes a tad taxing on the viewer.  Samyukta Hegde after her brief but impressive performance in 'Comali' is the lead heroine here who has done full justice to the role of the young foodie Ramya who falls all too easily to the house owner boy.  Her best scene is when she takes a decision on her pregnancy.  Yogi Babu's comedy has dwindled in recent films but here it works well and he also has his own character arc as a deprived football aspirant who gets his day on the turf.  Seniors Marimuthu and Nithya as the boy's parents are noticeable in the supporting cast while Mottai Rajendran also puts in a cameo.

What works best in 'Puppy' is the youthful energy that resonates throughout the screenplay and the connection the characters make with the audiences. The scene in which Varun tries to make out with Samyuktha without knowing that his father is in the house is hilarious and so is the one when Varun forces Yogi Babu to fake a heart attack.  The adult jokes occupy only a quarter of the film and after that, the director cleverly maneuvers the screenplay to convey his strong message.  The plot device of equating the pregnancy of the dog puppy with that of the heroine is touching and the change of heart of the hero at the end is also quite convincing.

On the downside, the female lead is written as a passive character and there are not enough scenes to show how the pregnancy affects her in comparison to that of the hero's.  Some scenes are unnecessarily long with Varun shouting at the top of the voice which make the viewer squirm.  There is an uneven feel in the flow of the screenplay with more than a few rough edges to it and the heroine's decision in the climax to leave the city seems forced.

'Puppy' is a great comeback for music director Dharankumar who has provided a rich background score, foot-tapping fast songs, and lilting melodies.  The food anthem "Soththu Moottai" is not only zesty to listen to but is also picturized imaginatively.  Deepak Kumar Padhy's cinematography is right up there along with Richie's editing to make the film flow freely and pleasantly.   Vels Films International is poised for a hattrick and credit to them that they promoted the film in such a way that their target tickets are assured.  Morattu Single Nattu Dev is not only a promising filmmaker but an intelligent one too who knows how to keep his audience hooked and deliver a good message to the youth in the process.

Verdict : Go for this funfilled entertainer that has a good message to the youth