Nesippaya movie review: A promising yet meandering romantic drama that has one too many rough edges

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Diya is a seemingly level-headed woman who spurns Arjun’s advances almost immediately, but the latter strongly believes ‘no means yes’ and pursues her because… yeah, he is a Tamil cinema hero. And no prizes for guessing that she would fall for him. But honestly, these scenes, despite being contrived, work for a while because the earnestness of Akash, the vivaciousness of Aditi, and of course Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music holds the fort. But then, fissures in the relationship start to appear when the honeymoon phase of the relationship gets over. Once again, Diya is a seemingly level-headed woman, who tries her best to make Arjun understand the need for boundaries in a relationship, and the importance of space and individuality. If only, Arjun understood what it means to think before he acts… A lot of things could have changed, especially the trainwreck that happens during the Portugal sojourn. But let’s get to it in a minute.

And now, for the three points we left unexplored. The Portugal prison setup does raise the stakes of the film, but it is never too high for our hero because everything falls in place without even the slightest of hindrances. What do you mean that Arjun gets his Schengen Visa in fifteen days? What do you mean he finds the one Tamil gangster in the whole of Portugal who swoops right in time to help Arjun not once, not twice, but thrice? Are you really telling me that a man who has no clue about the language, the people, the law, and the system, just wreaks havoc in Lisbon? Who are you… Ethan Hunt or Bryan Mills?

Vishnu Varadhan gets the romantic drama absolutely on point, especially with Diya feeling claustrophobic under the relentless love of Arjun. It makes absolute sense that she wants to leave him, and go as far as Portugal. I don’t really blame her for it. He doesn’t listen to anyone, and that is not an endearing trait by any stretch of imagination. And because of his disobedience, almost everything that Indian lawyer Indrani (Kalki Koechlin) tries to do to get Diya out of prison goes up in smokes. Why doesn’t Arjun think before he acts, especially since his impulsive nature has only got things worse for him. In fact, Nesippaya has a lot of nicely written scenes showing Arjun and Diya in love, but we don’t really explore why Arjun loves Diya or Diya loves Arjun, and it proves to be the biggest undoing of the film.

But when we move away from this love story, and turn it into a saga about a murder, an obvious cover-up, an even more obvious reason, a surprisingly not-so-obvious side quest, Nesippaya starts to blow hot and cold. The action sequences, especially the one in the picturesque scenic locations of Portugal featuring a car and the hero on a bike, is exquisitely shot. It also helps that these portions have excellent cameos from the likes of Sarath Kumar and Khusbhu who prove that it is the paucity of good roles that is the problem, and it is never them. But again, in these portions, Akash and Aditi don’t always deliver because the emotional drama gets diluted by their almost-there performance that needed to a bit more finesse. They are also let down by the writing in these portions that burden them with outlandish scenes that force them to be a slightly more animated version of themselves. But make no mistake, Akash can act, fight, and has a neat flair for comedy and romance. The same holds true for Aditi too, who is quite on point as Diya, and proves that she can be as good a urban college-going girl as she was a hardworking villager in Viruman.

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With Yuvan delivering a competent album, and a compelling background score, Nesippaya definitely had the potential to be a Dhaam Dhoom done right albeit with a gender reversal. In fact, more than Dhaam Dhoom, Nesippaya is the Portugal-based retelling of the Sathyavan-Savitri story, which has been the base for many a film. Remember Roja? In some ways, Nesippaya is Vishnu Varadhan’s Roja, and it is the man who goes to the gallows to save his woman from certain death. It is poetic, heartwarming, indulgent, triumphant, and romantic. But it is also all over the place with an almost flat narrative that spends too much time in limbo before getting a life of its own towards the end. But that’s the thing about craving for love, I guess. You throw in everything you have in the hope that something clicks. Well, honestly… something did click, and it does deserve love, albeit with a sense of restraint and caution.

Nesippaya Movie Cast: Akash Murali, Aditi Shankar, Kalki Koechlin, Sarath Kumar, Khushbu Sundar
Nesippaya Movie Director: Vishnu Varadhan
Nesippaya Movie Rating: 2.5 stars