By Haricharan Pudipeddi
Chennai, Sep 19 (IANS): Film: "Aadama Jaichomada"; Cast: Balaji Venugopal, Karunakaran, Simhaa, Vijayalakshmi, K.S Ravi Kumar, Naren, Chetan, Radha Ravi; Director: Badri; Rating: ***

There really isn't a story in "Aadama Jaichomada" to rave about. It follows a bookie, Dhayalan (Balaji), who plans to buy a bowler ahead of a semi-final cricket match.

A special team headed by Inspector Bhoominathan (Simhaa) has been assigned the case and asked to closely follow Dhayalan, who leads them to Albert, a kingpin in cricket betting. The events that happen during the course of the investigation will leave audiences in splits.

"Aadama Jaichomada", at two hours, which I think is the film's biggest strength, attempts to be a crime-thriller as well as a sports-based comedy. But it only succeeds as the latter, and fails to do justice to the former form.

But considering how efficiently Badri has used the comedy angle in his story, one should ignore minor flaws.

Badri's attempt to address a controversial subject with humour is refreshingly creative. The comedy is born out of situations, neatly woven together as part of the screenplay.

Like this scene where Vijayalakshmi, who plays Karuna's (Karunakaran) love interest, talks about her obsession with living in a house with an attached bathroom because all her life she's stood in long queues outside a common bathroom.

Another scene to watch is when K.S. Ravi Kumar narrates the 'Anattamai' story. It's scenes like these that hold the film together and keep us entertained.

Badri uses the comedy genre far too well than several of his counterparts. He does include a few cinematic cliches, like two boring duets, but he delivers a film that's mostly entertaining.

His last film "Thillu Mullu", an eponymous remake of a cult classic, was a dud, but he doesn't repeat the same mistake in his latest film, which shows how humour can be used deftly to address a bigger issue without being preachy.

Most importantly, neither does Badri blame the sport nor does he take names of any players who were named in the spot fixing.

Karuna was promoted as a lead hero and it is certainly his show all the way. His talent to make even a serious scene funny is unmatchable. He's evolving with each film and never do you feel he's getting repetitive with his roles like many other comedians.

Simhaa chips in with an equally funny role. But the surprise package in "Aadama Jaichomada" is K.S. Ravi Kumar, a police commissioner who has to deal with two misfit police officers. Scenes between him and Simhaa are the best moments to look forward to.

Despite a weak story, the humour in "Aadama Jaichomada" will bowl over the movie buffs.