I watched the promos, read interesting titbits in newspapers about how Boys is about a group of guys (plus one girl, of course) singing their way to the MTV Awards, and played the Boys tape to the point of exhaustion.

Everything I had seen or heard had led me, as well as many of my friends, to believe that Boys is a movie on the making of a friendly neighbourhood garage rock band.

More on Rediff! Another ace for Ajay Slide show: Boys will be boys! Slide show: See Ash, Rani! Why is Koi... Mil Gaya a hit?

But was I ever wrong!! Boys contain enough incidents to put Ektaa Kapoor serials to shame. It took a while after the movie got over to reconstruct the events that lead to the climax.

You want to know why?

Beat this: three dates, close encounter with a call girl, a scary bike-chase with a nude hero on Chennai's Mount Road, a runaway teen marriage, a divorce that almost happens, a godfather-type (Vivek) who spends half his time and money drinking and visiting brothels. (The other half is employed encouraging kids to flout rules.)

Wait, there's more: two courtroom scenes, a mini-jail, brush with POTA, Naxalites, anti-nationals, a sentimental awards night, and more than half-a-dozen songs and tons of mush.

Phew! Confused? I was.

Boys is about five college-going guys and a girl. One of the guys (Munna) elopes with the girl (Harini aka Genelia D'Souza) and walks out of home accompanied by his loyal friends, all of whom struggle to eke out a living while still trying to pay their college fees.

The story then takes a twist when the boys decide to use their musical talent -- which is till then mentioned only in passing -- to compose a religious album, which turns out to be a hit.

They later compose a few inflammatory songs for a bunch of Naxalites, which results in their being arrested under POTA.

Once out of jail, they form a pop group. The rest of the film is about their arduous journey to stardom at the MTV 2003 Awards.

Boys is good in parts. If the incidents in the movie are viewed like television episodes, one could end up enjoying the film thoroughly.

Boys could have been made into a coherent story. There is a certain boldness attached with a couple of scenes depicting nudity. Also, the heroine is rarely clothed in anything substantial.

In his attempt to make a movie about youngsters, however, director Shankar has tried to make almost every conceivable situation arise in the span of three hours. The result is that Boys gets enmeshed in an intricate array of sub-plots. And somewhere along the way, the story begins to meander.

On the bright side, all six newcomers have given impressive performances. It has to be said that these youngsters are more natural than many established Hindi and Tamil stars.

The jokes are refreshingly frank and risqué -- just the way us college students like it. They made me laugh out loud more than once. The language of the movie is as colourful as any young Chennaiite's -- at least as far as the censors would allow it to be. The music videos are, to use an oft-repeated cliché, amazing. The score is already a big hit in Chennai.

Boys, in my opinion, can be viewed from three perspectives:

• A spoof. In which case the movie will be thoroughly entertaining for the most part. The notable exception being the last 20 minutes.
• A serious attempt at telling a story. In that case you might not find this worth a watch.
• A series of episodes of a television serial. Then indeed Boys is good fun with plenty of laughs.

On the whole, Boys is worth a watch for its cinematography, performances, and in-your-face humour.

Many college students, especially guys, might watch Boys more than once for the titillating scenes, the non-veg jokes, and, most importantly, the skimpy, transparent clothing sported by the heroine. Personally, I prefer the sombre realism of Kaaka Kaaka.

Siddhu Warrier, 19, is a college student in Chennai.