Walking into the theatre to watch the movie at last, flooded by memories of Selvaraghavan's last creation, I wondered whether "7G Rainbow Colony" could ever measure up to "Kaadhal Kondein".

What strikes one first about "7G Rainbow Colony" is that its hero, Kathir (played by Ravi Krishna), is no archetypal Tamil film hero. He is an average, rather uncouth and rowdy, lower middleclass Chennaiite. The kind of person, who never draws a second glance from women.

He is the quintessential underachiever who frustrates his father by performing disastrously in every examination he takes. He spends his time drinking, smoking or behaving raucously in theatres with his friends.

Anitha (Sonia Agarwal), whose family has suffered a serious financial reverse, shifts into Rainbow Colony -- a decidedly lower middleclass neighbourhood -- and occupies the flat below Kathir's. Mercifully for the viewer, the result is not love at first sight!

And love, when it does bloom in Kathir's heart, is not the formulaic love that one usually witnesses on the silver screen. In fact, Kathir's long, silent stares and his dogged pursuit of Anitha accurately mirrors the almost obsessive infatuations often seen in school and college campuses in these parts.

Though Anitha's feelings towards Kathir do ultimately change, it is thankfully gradual and believable. The feeling of repulsion that viewers feel towards Kathir also gradually changes as the movie gets on. Anitha then helps Kathir rise out of the ocean of mediocrity and achieve something tangible in life.

Sonia Agarwal is undoubtedly the star of the film. She looks ravishing though a little on the buxom side. She has portrayed to perfection the harassed, young girl with a staid middle class values.

Unprepossessing and ordinary, Ravi Krishna's character doesn't stand out in a crowd and is just one among faceless millions.

Though Kathir's three other friends appear in a large number of frames in the movie, their faces don't stay in the viewer's mind - an indication that Selvaraghavan has successfully managed to portray them as the kind of people who, in real life, receive no second glance.

The songs drag on a little too long but the music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is excellent. The background music, though a trifle loud at times, lends itself to the narrative, which in turn is fast-paced and engrossing.

Selvaraghavan's directorial venture after "Kaadhal Kondein" can be given an emphatic thumbs-up. He has managed to weave together a touching movie, which brings tears to one's eyes at moments. This movie is definitely among the best released this year, and must not by any means be given the go-by.