I can remember the last time when I had a heartfelt laughter throughout a movie and that was while watching ‘Boss Engira Bhaskaran’ and the one before that can be credited for the movie ‘Friends’. Although Tamil cinema is riddled with comedy capers every now and then, an element of intelligence laced with a genuinely humorous script are few and far between. Now the latest sensation in such a genre is Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom directed by debutante Balaji Tharaneetharan.
A couple of days before his marriage, Premkumar (Vijay Sethupathi) meets with a strange accident that leaves his memory (medulla oblongata) in dire straits. As a result, he forgets the happenings in his life in the past one year while still retaining the ones he has known from his birth. The story moves around him and his three friends (Balaji, Baks and Saras) who help him get married without his parents, in-laws and the bride coming to know about the fact.
The director mentioned that the story was based on a real life incident that took place in the life of the movie’s cameraman, Premkumar (and thus the protagonist’s name). This was clearly evident from the fact that the movie had very many genuinely funny and deceitful knots in the script that was so skilfully handled, making it an intelligent laugh riot.
There were many positives that made this movie distinguishable:
1. The budget must have been very minimal as there were no extravagant songs or
chase sequences and hardly any familiar names in the acting as well as the technical departments
2. There were no crude dialogs or jokes or sleazy item numbers
3. The script moved ahead with a focus throughout
4. Excellent casting and characterization that today’s youth can relate with
5. Subtle nuances in acting (especially in expressions) from fresh faces
6. Intelligent script
Casting fresh faces and extracting the right emotions to make the comedy work would have been the greatest challenge for the director and that is where he has scored. Many scenes worked just because of the timing and the expressions of the characters and there were hardly any dialogs. The other major challenge was to maintain the comic tempo always on a high as there was a serious scenario that prevailed in the plot that would have easily pushed the movie into a melodramatic escapade. The challenges were handled with panache with equal finesse in the script.
Vijay Sethupathi as Premkumar was top notch. He was the only known face in the movie and this one makes it three in a trot for him after Sundarapadian and Pizza. Keep it up and way to go!
Bagavathy Perumal as ‘Baks’ was one of the three clowns who entertained with his pseudo intellectual talks that often gets backfired towards him.
Vigneswaran as Saras, depicted as the practical and wiser of the three, does a great job when the going gets tough.
Rajkumar as Balaji was portrayed as the naivest of the three and he served as an essential element in order to complete the full circle. His naïve and innocent remarks at various points kept us in splits and towards the climax he was on a comic rampage with his timid expressions and artificially made up valour.
Gayatri as Dhanalakshmi was supposed to be the heroine, but her introduction came only towards the end and she was there only for the script’s necessity and completeness.
The other major asset for the movie was the BGM scored by Siddharth Vipin. A lot many times, the BGM acted as a character and etched out the comic moments very well. There was only one song during the film's title credits and one more promotional song post interval.
Cinematography, handled by the real life protagonist, Premkumar, painted the movie with natural light. Numerous close-ups, wide angle and mid shots were used in order to induce a feeling that the movie was happening next door.
Editing by Govindaraj was a tad disappointing in the sense that the movie could have been trimmed by 15 more minutes and that would have made it a racier one! Also the theme song (promotional video) that was played post interval could have been easily scissored as it stood out like a sore thumb!
On the whole, the movie was a triumph for great script writing skills and an outstanding cast.
Verdict: Must watch (with a bunch of friends)!
Rating: 3.5/5
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