A line from the ‘Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam’ music from the 1962 Tamil movie Policekaran Magalgoes, “Kulungum mundhaanai sirikum athanai viratuvathu yenadiyo? Unthan kodiyidai indru padai kondu vanthu kolluvathu yenadiyo.” While this lovely Tamil line by Kannadasan would possibly sound like Greek and Latin to at this time’s Gen Z and Alpha era and their tackle up to date relationships, the ever-evolving idea of affection has stayed fixed. Similarly, Dhanush, in his third directorial — an entire distinction from his first, Pa Paandi, which handled yesteryear love — shares a narrative of affection(s) in at this time’s time with a little bit of old-school contact in Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobamaka NEEK.
The story revolves round Prabhu (Pavish), who, after a heartbreak, is all set to satisfy a potential accomplice, Preethi (Priya Prakash Varrier), when he will get a marriage invite from his ex-girlfriend Nila (Anikha). With confidence that watching her get hitched received’t crumble him to mud, and his trusty pal Rajesh (Matthew Thomas) for firm, Prabhu attends Preethi’s a number of marriage ceremony capabilities like sangeet and mehndi as he processes a number of phases of his grief. In this “vazhakamana kadhal kadhai” as Dhanush likes to name his movie, there are additionally Prabhu and Nila’s different associates, Venky (Venkatesh Menon) and Sriya (Rabiya Khatoon), and marriage ceremony planner Anjali (Ramya Ranganathan).
An fascinating sample in all of Dhanush’s directorials is how easy the core plots are. What makes them stand out is the remedy he lends to it. NEEK, in this regard,isn’t any completely different. Gone are the days when a boy met a woman, they fell in love, overcame the odds and lived fortunately ever after. In at this time’s world, the place love confessions can occur in a restroom, {couples} take selfies in order that they will commemorate their first struggle and moments earlier than a pair’s first kiss can get ruined as a result of considered one of them desires to puke, relationships are as complicated as ever. Dhanush takes this up to date tackle relationships as his canvas in which he opts for broad strokes on a barrage of matters as an alternative of zooming into one.
Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam (Tamil)
Director: Dhanush
Cast: Pavish, Anikha Surendran, Priya Prakash Varrier, Matthew Thomas, Venkatesh Menon, Rabiya Khatoon, Ramya Ranganathan
Runtime: 132 minutes
Storyline: When a heartbroken teenager’s dad and mom prepare a wedding for him, he attends his ex’s marriage ceremony in a bid to get closure
Apart from Prabhu and Nila’s love story, there’s additionally Venky and Sriya’s on-and-off relationship. Rajesh’s standing is the excellent instance of calling a relationship ‘complicated’ and Anjali, seeing the plight of Prabhu at Nila’s marriage ceremony, develops a comfortable nook that blossoms into one thing extra. Thrown into the equation are the seniors performed by Sarathkumar, Aadukalam Naren and Saranya Ponvannan who do a fantastic job of pulling the children in addition to the movie again on observe once they go sideways.
And hitches are aplenty in NEEK with the obtrusive one being the lead pair. Dhanush’s nephew Pavish, in his debut outing, struggles to suit in, like his character in the movie. Be it the emotional stretches the place the character’s vulnerability reveals up or the “mass” moments when this middle-class boy tackles his girlfriend’s wealthy dad, his performing prowess — or the lack thereof — makes it tough for us to root for him. When he’s not mimicking Dhanush, he tries to get cowl behind a pair of darkish sun shades. Anikha, as the feminine lead, is seen principally reacting to her circumstances, with little company.
A nonetheless from ‘Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam’
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Special Arrangement
It’s Matthew Thomas, the most skilled of the younger crop of actors in NEEK, who finally ends up as the show-stealer with a stellar efficiency. Breaking the age-old stereotypes affiliated with the character who performs the hero’s pal, Dhanush etches Matthew’s Rajesh with gravitas and the actor pulls it off successfully. The remainder of the younger solid have their fair proportion of sequences in which they shine.
Another takeaway from NEEK is how Dhanush laces the movie together with his love for movies of the bygone period with a pinch of his personal life. The lead character’s identify occurs to be Dhanush’s actual identify, Venkatesh Prabhu, and identical to the actor’s preliminary want of turning a chef, Prabhu too performs one. Rajesh’s telephone ringtone is ‘Oodhungada Sangu’ and his canine is called Harry Potter, a direct reference to Dhanush’s Velaiyilla Pattathari, and Prabhu’s home appears eerily just like the one from VIP, making one consider that Saranya taking part in the mom in each movies is something however incidental. There are references to AR Rahman and Ilaiyaraja and Dhanush even makes use of the ‘Ithu Enna Maatram’ observe from 7G Rainbow Colony as a hat-tip to his brother. Speaking of music, GV Prakash, who’s on a roll, does a beautiful job and so does Leon Britto whose camerawork provides a vibrant gloss to NEEK.
The movie is a light-hearted romance and like a double-tipped cupid arrow, it has its professionals and cons. Without delving deep into any of the myriad sub-plots, the movie maintains a painful distance from the proceedings and its repercussions sink approach after we go away the theatre premises. For occasion, what occurred to Prabhu’s pragmatic pops or the chirpy mother who loves conversing in English? We’ll by no means know. Similarly, NEEK leaves us wishing we acquired to know extra about Preethi, Prabhu’s potential accomplice, who occurs to be the most mature considered one of the lot.
Dhanush tries to subvert cliches, like when the gang runs away from what may have been an motion sequence or not villainising Nila’s groom. He additionally amps up the comedy issue, like the bromance between Prabhu and Rajesh, which works brilliantly in some stretches. But regardless of some intriguing moments, NEEK has its fair proportion of flaws because of handy writing and underwhelming performances. NEEK may be Dhanush’s weakest directorial however has sufficient to show glimpses of his prowess as a filmmaker and on condition that his subsequent as a director is titled Idly Kadai, let’s hope he’s cooking one thing extra appetising.
Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam is at the moment working in theatres
Published – February 21, 2025 08:14 pm IST
