It's meant to be a hilarious entertainer, a non-stop laughter train that was supposed to take one on a journey of a couple of hours of fun moments. But somewhere between the conception and its visualisation on screen, the calculation seems to have gone all wrong. And what we get is a bland script, a hotch-potch of situations, a handful of characters all appearing similar in charecterisation, situations that hardly evoke a chuckle, leave alone laughter; and a hero who's not totally in his elements, like he's lost interest somewhere along the way.

Mumbai Express alias Avinashi, is a stunt motorcycle rider who's earned the nickname for his dare-devil rides round the 'well of death' at exhibitions. A simpleton, he somehow gets embroiled in a kidnapping that goes haywire, when the wrong boy, Daddu, son of a senior cop, is kidnapped, thanks to Avinashi's fumbling nature and goof-ups. It's more of goof-ups, and a string of well-meaning but misfired moves to get at the ransom money.

Avinashi's meeting with Daddu's mother (Manisha), the mistress of the cop, all form part of the story. The ending is a bit abrupt, like the director had suddenly found himself with no more ideas to spare.

The laughs are few and far between. The better moments are - the scene of the reaction of the schoolchildren as they watch Avinashi climbing and perching precariously on to a steep crane; and the final 10 minutes where Chettiyar mistakes Avinashi for an undercover cop and hands over the ransom money. Santhana Bharati and Nasser (Chettiyar, and the cop) come out well in these scenes. Pasupati gets to reveal his flair for comedy too.

One should commend Manisha's guts for taking up such a role, knowing that it's neither going to enhance her career nor her image!

Produced and scripted by Kamal Haasan, the film is directed by Singeetham Srinavasa Rao. Their teaming up had given us some engaging entertainers earlier like 'Pesum Padam' and 'Apoorva Sahodarargal'. But here the duo fail to create the same magic. Finally, it's not the kidnapping alone that's gone wrong here. It's the script and the narration too that seems to have gone haywire!