Time and again directors have miserably failed due to not playing to their strengths. Director Sargunam who has delivered a couple of aces in the past like ‘Kalvani’ and ‘Vaagai Sooda Vaa’ which were critically acclaimed even though not big in the box office, has come up with ‘Naiyaandi’ with a quest to claim his elusive box office success. With stars like Dhanush and Nasiriya and a controversy to brew some mileage for the movie, he had everything aligned for the movie’s success even before its release. But what was missing in the puzzle was the all-important piece - the content - screenplay!
The story is set in a small town where the hero (Dhanush) who is a lamp merchant falls for the heroine (Nasiriya) who is a dental college student. There is a challenge that the hero has to face in the form of a rather naive villain (Vamsi Krishna) who makes an appearance at the start and end of movie only to get walloped by our slender hero. In between there were some family ‘kichdis’ that failed to register in our minds even during the proceedings.
Just wondering what makes directors who promise a great potential to deviate from their path that they have treaded in the past to a path that is so popular and naïve. The most disturbing fact is that in the film industry at large, the success of a director is determined only by the box-office collection that he/she is capable of raking in the first few weeks of the movie’s release. In order to make a name for themselves at the BO, even promising directors tend to take the commercial route failing miserably more often than not – Sargunam being the latest addition to a beeline of people who have done this mistake in the past [Suseendiran – Rajapattai; Bala – Avan Ivan; Ameer – Aadi Bhagavan, Susi Ganesan – Kandasaami, etc.]
The plot of the movie was so stale that the comic elements failed to even take off even with the likes of ‘Parotta’ Soori, Satyan and Sathish in the cast. No one seemed to be enthusiastic with their performance including the lead cast of Dhanush and Nasiriya who were just puppets and their chemistry appeared to be dumb. The supporting cast were far too many like the movie’s flaws.
Technically the movie was weak, with the editing department taking the brunt of stretching the movie for ages and placing songs now and then when the going was already tedious.
Ghibran’s music was sort of a silver lining but a flawed narration made sure to place that in the backburner.
The movie would be a tedious experience to be watched in theatres and can safely be avoided to save some bucks for some good ones to come (hopefully)!
Rating: 1.5 / 5
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