Only the presence of Solomon Pappiah is missing in the film. Is there a re-birth or not? There's almost a debate on that through the film.

Sayaji Shinde is a politician who steals the temple jewels. A small boy Saravanan sees it and he's murdered. The heartbroken mother attempts suicide and she's prevented by the astrologer Vijay Kumar.

Vijay Kumar tells her that her son would be re-born and take revenge on Sayaji Shinde who would die in his hands. The film gathers momentum from then on and the climax reveals whether Vijay Kumar's prophecy comes true.

Even a kid will tell you that Saravanan re-born would be none other than Sarath Kumar, but some interesting knots here and there, gives the film a racy pace. Sarath is a doctor and when Vijay Kumar tells him that he was Saravanan in his previous birth, Sarath shows no belief in that theory.

Just when the film is picking up on a serious note, the doctor waxing lyrical about his girlfriend Meghana Naidu to a friend, is not quite laudable.

With the poor mother waiting endlessly for her dead son's reincarnation, the question of whether there's rebirth or not even after intermission makes one wonder if we are in fact watching a bhakti film. This treatment could have been avoided.

The technique used to kill inspector Riaz Khan and the identity change to create confusion over who is the incarnation of Saravanan are good ideas.

Megna Naidu is a TV compere and she suddenly turns illogically into a press reporter. Apart from revealing her glamour side, she has no particular scenes where she can show her acting talent, so Megna is just a pretty addition to the cast.

When Sayaji growls that even earth tremors and tsunami are the doings of the opposition party, the audience bursts into applause, reducing his villain role to that of a comedian.

Srikanth Deva's music is eminently forgettable. The cinematography is adequate.

"For those who believe in rebirth, he is Saravanan. For those who do not, he's Dr. Bala," says director R K Vidhayadharan and gets himself out of the situation smartly.

'Vaideeswaran' is watchable.