Manjal Veyyil starts out promisingly enough with college students playing pranks with a cell phone. This is followed by a contest between two college couples on who will reach a store get dressed in wedding finery and get back first, everyone thinks they are getting married but finally we get to know it's just a game. These little surprises create an expectation of a charming, bubbly, racy, contemporary romance but the screenplay and narrative flow steadily begin to lose steam as it proceeds.

The debutant director has tried to give the script a different twist here and there but the overall story and its treatment, sadly, travels the formulaic well-worn lane, having nothing new really to offer. That really is Manjal Veyyil's biggest problem.

The film focusses on the frienship between Vjiay and Gayathri. Consequently, the romantic scenes between Gayathri and Ravi are not given too much importance and when they do come, the romantic scenes that is, they fail to touch the heart. This is one of the major setbacks in the film.  The situational comedy sequences do add a sparkle or two to the film. The professor (MS Baskar) who turns auto driver unable to bear the antics of  his students  and the couple, one of whom is a Malayali and the other Telugu using him as a peacemaker in their feud of languages works quite effectively. The director strews occasional red herrings through the film and this creates sudden sparks of interest . For instance, we see Savithri injecting insulin but initially one thinks she’s doing drugs. The villain Rajesh returns from Savithri’s room after replacing her insulin with poison and bumps into Gayathri, he thinks he is caught redhanded but he’s not. However, these are but stray moments and the film could have done with more such attitude.

Sandhya in the central role performs her role passably and does come across as bubbly and cute. The climax where she vacillates between love and friendship, not knowing which to choose is a scene she passes muster but with a little more effort, she could have made it her moment of glory, thereby elevating the film as well. Prasanna performs his role adequately though it has to be said he does not have too much scope to display his histrionics. Bala does justice to his character as the gentle artist. Of the supporting cast, Nizhalgal Ravi as the father expresses his emotions of love, anger and pain well. The villain RK with a ridiculous wig and bad dialogue delivery ends up being a total caricature.

Bharadwaj’s music is average, the redeeming factor is that its set in picturesque foreign locales and the lush green hillsides of Ooty. Sandhya herself  has sung Goldcoated Poo Neeya but the song lacks feeling. The first line of Asai Oviyum borrows the tune of the evergreen Kaadhal Oviyum song in Alaigal Oyvathillai and takes one down the path of nostalgia.  The locales of Ooty make the film scenic to watch and the cinematography is not overpowering but has a realistic touch to it, going with the flow of the film.

All in all, the film has its sporadic moments of merriment but that's it really.