Film: 'Modhi Vilayadu'; Director: Saran; Cast: Vinay, Kalabhavan Mani, Yuva, V.M.C. Haneefa, Santhanam, Kajal Agarwal; Music: Hariharan and Leslie Lewis; Rating: **

After striking a lean patch in his last couple of films, director Saran was keen to bounce back. In 'Modhi Vilayadu', a glossy and stylish film, Saran has tried hard to regain his touch but the end result is no different from his earlier films.

Saran, in his pursuit to make a hit movie, has relied on the actors and what they are best at -- Vinay's casanova act, Kalabhavan Mani's mimic skills, V.M.C. Haneefa's spontaneous reactions and Santhanam's spoofs -- and they have all been used well.

But the surprise element is Kajal Agarwal, who manages to combine good looks with a gritty performance. The young actress almost carries the otherwise dull first half on her shoulders alone.

Rajan Vasudev (Kalabhavan Mani) is a top jet-setting businessman. His son Udhay Vasudev (Vinay) stays in Chennai with his friend Madhan (Yuva) and leads a luxurious life. Fearing his business rivals, Rajan is always protective about his son and appoints security guards from abroad for his safety.

One day, Udhay comes across Eswari (Kajal Agarwal), a student. But he meets with an accident following a callous act of Eswari and forces her to work in his house and do domestic chores to compensate the loss he sustained in the mishap.

His friend Madhan develops a soft corner for Eswari and later so does Udhay. Both the friends set out to solve the issue with Eswari when tragedy strikes. Rajan's business rivals hire a hitman and try to bump off Udhay. But he escapes and Madhan gets killed instead.

Many surprises await Udhay in the next couple of days.