Pandiraj, the man behind the critically acclaimed & commercially successful Pasanga, comes with his third directorial venture Marina, also producing the movie under his own banner Pasanga Productions.

Ambikapathy, a small boy who runs away from his home to earn money & continue his schooling, reaches Chennai's renowned Marina beach. He starts selling water packets with the help of an old beggar. His good attitude helps him sell most of the goods on the first day itself. The other snack seller boys trouble him before accepting him. Whether the dream of this small boy comes true or not is the rest of Marina.

Pandiraj uses this refreshing plot to showcase the lives of the people who live near the Marina Beach, deprived even of the basic needs. As in Pasanga, a short & sweet love story of a young couple Senthilnathan and Swapnasundari has been added.

The first half of the movie is delightful, entertaining and has its mix of emotional sequences. The bet match of the boys, their fun-filled conversations, the BBC interview, Senthilnathan and Swapnasundari's romance at the beach, and the mad man who tells that he has let out the beach for rent are hilarious.

Pandiaraj's brilliant dialogues, unique narrative style & his way of conveying situations through visuals are appreciable. However, he fails to develop the story line to fulfill the needs of a feature film. The second half turns boring, cinematic & predictable. The lecture given by Jayaprakash to the children about the importance of education could have been penned better. The mood of the film is so happy that the cursed life of the characters almost goes unnoticed. There is not much in the film to engage us for 140 minutes. Overall, Pandiraj, who has great potential to pen the best of screenplays, disappoints with average output.

Characterization of all the roles is perfect. Vijay TV fame Siva Karthikeyan successfully makes his silver screen debut with this film. His gestures and dialogue modulation when fighting with Oviya are great. Oviya emotes well, getting her next good role after Kalavani. Pakoda Pandi plays as Ambikapathy. He and all the boys are absolutely incredible and deliver an awesome performance. Sundar Rajan, who played the role of the old man, Singer Aakatti Aruugam and Goutham have also scored well.

Cinematography is excellent from debutant Vijay, who captures Chennai's landmark Marina beach in a lively manner. However, few shots gives a low budget feel to the movie. Editing could have been more crisp. Music by Girish is fresh & awesome, with his background score adding life to the frames. Vanakkam Vanakkam Chennai and Kadhal Oru are the good song numbers.

Overall, Marina shines without needing any glamor or foreign locales to get there. A refreshing story, good casting and great acting is all it takes. Marina joins the likes of Naan Kadavul & Angadi Theru in term of overall subject & social value. Had only Director Pandiraj added more weight to the script, it could easily have been a great movie. Marina ends up as a sure Can Watch!