Two ‘Nadodigal’, but only one makes a mark

venky   | Movies | July 1, 2009 at 4:57 pm

I spent the last two Fridays watching two films on the day of their release: ‘Muthirai’ (which loosely means ‘mark’) and ‘Nadodigal’ (nomads). Though different as chalk and cheese, both films were on the common and universal theme of friendship, and show how far one can go for a friend. And ironically, I found that both of them could have been named ‘Nadodigal’, but at the end of the day only one gave me enough bang for the buck.

'Daniel' Balaji, Lakshmi Rai, Nitinsathyaa & Manjari Phadnis in 'Muthirai'

Bharani, Sasikumar & Vijay Vasanth in 'Nadodigal'

‘Muthirai’ is produced by Vikram Bhatt (his first venture in Tamil cinema, I think) and the late director-cinematographer Jeeva’s wife, Anees Tanveer. It is the story of two conmen/thieves, Azhagu (’Daniel’ Balaji) and Sathya (Nitinsathyaa), who get caught unwittingly in a political murder, how they are on the run with girlfriends in tow (hence ‘Nadodigal’) and how they extricate themselves from the mess they find themselves in. While Anees has been credited as the creative director, Srinath (an erstwhile assistant of Jeeva, who has also acted in movies like ‘Ullam Kaetkumae’ and ‘Bheema’) is the director. It has been shot by Saleem and edited by Antony, while Yuvan Shankar Raja is the music composer.

'Daniel' Balaji, Rakhi Sawant and Nitinsathyaa in 'Muthirai'

‘Nadodigal’ is produced by Michael Rayappan, under the banner of Global Infotainment Pvt Limited, and directed by Samuthirakani (who had earlier directed ‘Unnai Saran Adainthen’ and ‘Neranja Manasu’, but got a name for himself because of his TV serials and also because of his first major acting role in ‘Subramaniyapuram’, which was directed by Sasikumar). It is the story of three friends — Karunakaran (Sasikumar), Pandi (Bharani, who made his debut in ‘Kalloori’, directed by Balaji Shaktivel) and Chandran (Vijay Vasanth, the son of Congress MLA H Vasanthakumar, who owns the Chennai-based electronics retail chain Vasanth & Co and also Vasanth TV), who don’t think twice before going out on a limb to help out a friend in distress.

Vijay Vasanth, Sasikumar & Bharani in 'Nadodigal'

Ananya & Sasikumar in 'Nadodigal'

But a few scenes of bonding and camaraderie do not a movie make — that is a lesson Srinath has to learn. The movie has been shot beautifully and Nitin does succeed in evoking a few laughs, but beyond that the movie does not have any redeeming qualities. The leading ladies — Lakshmi Rai and Manjari Phadnis (yes, she of the ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ fame, making her acting and singing debuts in Tamil) have nothing much to do but prance around in skimpy outfits. It is a good break for Balaji as he gets to debut as a hero after playing numerous negative roles (in ‘Kaakha Kaakha’ and ‘Vettaiyadu Vilayadu’), but the director is unable to channel the almost feral energy that he possesses on the screen and he ends up looking like a wannabe rather than a cool thief in his marvellous tattoos. Nitin breezes through his part, almost reprising his role of a thief in ‘Raman Thediya Seethai’ and showing glimpses of what he is capable of in the hands of a good director. The songs keep coming at regular intervals, but only end up as irritants as Yuvan sounds sorely out of touch.

Nitinsathyaa & 'Daniel' Balaji in 'Muthirai'

Even thought the story of ‘Muthirai’ (I am still unable to figure out why the movie was named thus) is nothing novel, a smart screenplay and some taut editing could have made it work, but after watching it you are just left wondering what could have been. It is almost as if Anees and Srinath set out to make a hep and happening thriller and could have even succeeded had Antony worked his magic, but now the end result is sorely disappointing. Makes me wonder how Jeeva would have handled the story. You may have liked him, you may even have hated him, but none could have accused Jeeva of making a boring movie (12B, Ullam Kaetkumae, Unnale Unnale and Dhaam Dhoom). The songs and visuals would always make a Jeeva movie eminently watchable; Srinath seems to have got the visual sense right, but what lets him down is the poor screenplay — the best example being the multiple twists and turns in the movie’s climax, which only show that he was unable to make his mind on how to end the movie. What is really jarring is that good actors like Kishore and Saravanan are wasted in inconsequential roles.

Manjari Phadnis & Nitinsathyaa in 'Muthirai'

'Daniel' Balaji & Lakshmi Rai in 'Muthirai'

‘Nadodigal’, on the other hand, is a rollicking ride from the word go. It is familiar territory for Sasikumar, who revels in a role similar to the one he played in ‘Subramaniyapuram’ that has almost become a cult classic now. Lending him support are Bharani and Vijay, who get a good opportunity to showcase their talent. Ananya, who plays the role of Nallamma, the daughter of a relative of Karunakaran, is a revelation and is bound to go places. The other actors are aptly cast, and do more than adequate justive to the roles assigned to them. Ganja Karuppu makes an appearance towards the interval and plays his part with gusto though his role reminds one of his appearance in ‘Raam’, which was directed by Ameer before his magnum opus ‘Paruthiveeran’.

Ananya in 'Nadodigal'

S R Kathiir brings life to the visuals of Rajapalayam, Namakkal and Erode, where most of the movie has been shot and deserves commendation for the way the chase scene in Sivanmalai has been shot.

Sasikumar & Vijay Vasanth in 'Nadodigal'

Few know that Abhinaya, who plays the role of Karunakaran’s sister, was born with a hearing and speaking disability. But once on screen, everybody is only going to think what a looker she is! She was cast after many mainstream heroines turned down the role. Samuthirakani deserves a lot of praise for believing in her and making her emote to perfection, inspite of her disabilities.

Vijay Vasanth & Abhinaya in 'Nadodigal'

The songs by Sundar C Babu ( the grandson of veena maestro Chitti Babu) are a let-down though, coming immediately after his good work in ‘Chithira Pesudadi’ and ‘Anjathey’ but for the the high-energy ‘Sambo Shiva Sambo’. It is almost like the theme song of the movie and is sure to become as popular as ‘Om Sivoham’ by Illayaraja for Bala’s ‘Naan Kadavul’.

Bharani & Sasikumar in 'Nadodigal'

But where I felt let down was in the second half of the movie, but it is more because the director takes a very preachy route to get his message across. The three friends who do everything (and lose a lot in the bargain) to get another friend married become angry and are driven to revenge when it becomes known that the couple was just out to have a fling. Till then the movie has everything going for it — the friends have sacrificed a lot, put their families into a lot of trouble and caused so much tumult that their lives change for ever — their actions, motivations are all correct, but the movie loses its plot when they think that they have a right to decide the couse of their friends’ lives just because they got them married. A different ending would have made the movie work for me, but for the rest of the audience in the theatre it was all fair in love and war. They (especially the front-benchers) seemed to think that as the three friends had given up a lot, they were correct in demanding their pound of flesh. Well, going by their reactions, the movie is sure to become a huge box office hit.

Samuthirakani explains a shot to Sasikumar on location for 'Nadodigal'

A good follow-up to ‘Subramaniyapuram’ by Samuthirakani and Sasikumar, but coming back to ‘Muthirai’ I have only one thing to say — Jeeva, we miss you!

1 Comment

1. Abhishek says:

   July 2, 2009 at 8:42 am

   Nadodigal is cool!rocking movie!but yea i dont think Jeeva was so good either as a director.His movies were just oik.and whats with the muthirai cameraman.his main focus were the nostrils of the actors.

   UN:F [1.7.5_995]

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