Relax (film)

"Relax" is the dubbed Tamil version of the Kannada film "Shanti Shanti Shanti". The film starred Abbas, Madhavan, Prakash Raj, Prema, Harini and Satish Shah in key roles. It was directed by Srinivas and P.C. Sriram did the cinematography.

Plot

There is Murthy, the rich but frugal papa, and his two college-going kids, Siddhartha (Madhavan) and Shanti (Prema). Given papa's ways, the two kids feel a bit shackled, and yearn constantly for the good life. Matters come to a head when Siddharth wants to play the guitar at a college function, Shanti wants to take part in the fashion parade -- both need money and, of course, papa isn't in the mood to indulge such extravagance.

Enter Raju (Abbas). A foundling brought up by Sumitra, who ekes out a living running an idli stall, Raju is a diehard Rajnikanth fan, working in a garage to help make both ends meet. Trouble begins when Raju loses his job, has a drink or three to ease the angst, and finds himself standing outside Siddharth-Shanti's home, gaping from outside at what he imagines is the rich life within.

At this point the family car rams into him. Raju is quickly carted inside the home by papa's servants -- with a foreign delegation due any minute, the last thing he needs is embarrassment outside his gates. Raju is tucked up in bed. Not that there is anything wrong with him, but he figures he might as well play possum and enjoy as much of the 'rich' life as he can get.

The carefree lad makes friends with Sidharth and Shanti, listens to their vows, and promises to help them out. The threesome set off in papa's precious vintage car -- and the movie from there on turns into a caper, revolving around the events of one frenetic day. Raju and Shanti become romantic, Siddharth pairs up with Suji, a baddie (Prakash Raj) comes into the equation, and a kidnapping goes wrong as Raju is mistaken for Siddharth.

How the foursome get out of the mess is what the rest of the movie is all about.