First and foremost, this flick looks, and sounds great. If one were to have urged the helmer (before he completed, this, of course) to retain the level of grittiness he brought to (most of) the flick before its break, and sustain the same all the way through, this would have been one heck of a movie.
The romantic interludes function well since they're closely integrated/tied-in to the larger plot unfolding, of youth politics and hooliganism being manipulated by powerful (albeit lesser) forces.
However, all good things must come to an end, and this completely loses itself to hero-worship during its final 20 minutes or so, something that was assiduously avoided until then, almost relegating the main lead to the role of a strong supporting character, when that very same character is brought back to the forefront with a series of highly implausible contrivances.
Santhosh Narayanan's 'Naan nee', and other rustic tracks are almost worth the price of admission alone.
To me, the wall-themed plot, which was used almost like a (weak) ploy that may have been (intensely?) personal and used as a metaphor by the writer/director, and perhaps even to a few sections of the audience, ultimately rang very thin to me, and I did not buy it much. Thankfully, though the helmer keeps reminding us that it is what is at stake with multiple focusing shots at it every 10 minutes or so, the rest of the plot is engaging enough to forget about that contrivance until we're reminded of it, time and again.
The paint scene graphics are painfully apparent, and did not need CGI.
The stilted, and amateurish-sounding/written dialogues are not a strength either, though I do recognize the intent for ensuring they sounded more realistic. Could've been rendered better.
The twist just before the intermission is one I did Not see coming, and that's always a good thing, and I could not wait for the break to end to see where it was all leading up to. There are a couple more after that break, with 1 long chase sequence that is intense and exciting at the same time, which is a rarity in mainstream Indian cinema (evokes memories of similar sequences in a few good old Sunny Deol movies - you knew what was coming, but were outta breath all the same; in this, you think you know what's gonna happen, and then......think again), where nothing surprises or takes hold. What is disappointing after is how the whole thing subsequently unravels, about which I've made a mention of earlier (above).
The ineffectual setup and the weak(er) denouement notwithstanding, I do applaud the effort made on this one, and feel that it deserves to be watched on the big screen with an audience.