Director: S.J. Surya Cast: Vijay, Jotika, Mumtaz, Shilpa Shetty, Vivek, Vijay Kumar, Janaki, Karishma, Nagendra Prasad. For his debut film 'Vaali' director Surya took a knot from mythology and set it in modern ambience. The story of a man who covets his brother's wife and is even ready to kill to possess her had a cleverly-etched, racy screenplay and a refreshing narrative style that made it one of the more-talked-about films of the time. But Surya's second film ' Khushi' does not justify the title in any way nor does it come anywhere near his first. If the verbal duel and the tiffs between the lovers formed only a small but interesting bit of the earlier story, which soon delved into more serious matters and emotional conflicts, the entire script here is one long endless tiff between the lovers. It is interesting in the beginning, but monotonous after a time as the narration gets stuck in a groove. The beginning is a little unusual. The story opens in Calcutta where a boy is born to a wealthy couple, a Tamilian father and a Bengali mother. After many close-up shots of the woman in labour the camera shifts to a village in Tamil Nadu, where a baby girl Jennifer is born in a middle class Christian family. The camera moves as though in some thriller, and a voice in the background informs us that the two babies are the future lovers of the story. Next, the two families are shown sitting next to each other in some jewellery shop. While the parents are oblivious of each other's presence, the babies look at each other, clasp each other's hands, and make gurgling noises. The next stage is at an NCC camp in Bangalore. They march right next to each other, but again are oblivious of each other's presence. And then they join the same college. Its curiosity aroused by now, the audience watches the developments in the life of the duo and the way their lives are made to converge. Interesting, but let's see what happens next. In course of time the duo are attracted towards each other. But then they keep having these tiffs and misunderstandings. Some nice touches here. What next? Again the couple has these tiffs. And again and again with no end in sight. Till it all starts getting monotonous and those in the audience start shuffling their feet and moving restlessly in their chairs. The director, probably aware of this himself, brings in a new entrant. But the move backfires; for, with her mini skirts and plunging necklines, Mumtaz looks out of place in the youthful college ambience. She is more like a woman of some sleazy joint than a playful provocative girl she is supposed to be. Her song with Vijay is in very bad taste. Earlier, the director had roped in Shipla Shetty for a dance number and given her an apology of a role. There is Vivek who tries desperately to make his presence felt. But stands no chance, the director bringing him in whenever he remembers him. Vijay puts in all the right expressions. Jyotika, making faces at the camera, looks so cute. But, then, a whole movie of about 2 ½ hours cannot be sustained by cute and right expressions alone. 'Khushi' does not bring 'Khushi' either to the characters in the film or to the audience.