Nanbenda Review: Criminally Yours

Nanbenda faithfully follows the template (if you can call it that) set by directors like Rajesh. There’s the borderline useless hero, whose allergy to gainful employment is only exceeded by his attempts to evade job interviews. And, a heroine who is the magical cure for all his ills. Add to this the long suffering wise-cracking friend, and you’ve got Nanbenda. And Boss Engira Baskaran. And, Oru Kal Oru Kannadi …you get the drift.

As Sathya’s (Udhay Stalin) mum tells him during an early moment, “when you fall in love with the girl meant for you, she will change your life completely.”

I hold my breath, waiting to be rescued by the heroine.

All in vain, though.

Nayanthara doesn’t do much to save the film.

Or me.

*****

One would be hard-pressed to find any unique elements in Jagadish’s debut effort. Nanbenda borrows its title from a popular one-liner in Boss Engira Baskaran. Half of its cast and crew do too, from what we could infer. That perhaps explains the heavy sense of déjà vu permeating the movie.

There’s not much by way of story, either. If anything, Nanbenda is a string of somewhat funny gags connected by some songs and a couple of ‘emotional’ scenes. Taken separately, they might all go on to rake in the TRPs when screened on comedy channels across the state. On the big screen though, they just don’t work.

As is the case with Rajesh’s films, Santhanam gets an introduction scene worthy of a hero, complete with a slow mo shot of him riding a bullet (no scooters for him, anymore). Harris Jayaraj even goes out of the way to compose a background score for this particular scene. In a movie full of otherwise uninspired music, that’s really saying something.

Heroine-wise too, Santhanam seems to have graduated. While he was paired with the likes of Jangiri Madhumitha, here he gets Sherin as his love interest. A randy one at that.

*****

Udhay Stalin is all things genial in this film. He spouts one liners at a rapid pace in an effort to mask his less than stellar onscreen performance. He goes abroad for songs – there’s one in Bali, a paen to Nayanthara; and another in which the duo dances at random streets and train stations in London. All of which serve no purpose, really.

There’s Nayanthara in short skirts too…but the guys sitting in front don’t seem very impressed.

Nayanthara’s Ramya is your usual Rajesh heroine. She has played this role, previously; except she was wearing sarees then. This time around, she swans around Trichy in carefully designed salwars and elaborate hairstyles. All the while insinuating about her big, dark secret.

She’s a killer who spent time in jail, we then come to know.

A murderous, blood-thirsty woman who killed Tommy, the cute little dog.

Unfortunately though, this isn’t the only crime in Nanbenda.

*****

The Nanbenda review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have an advertising relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.