Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam Movie Review: A pleasant no-frills love story that mixes old school with new cool

But this is not all that Dhanush gets right in Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam aka NEEK. He gets GV Prakash Kumar in a fine form. He gets cinematographer Leon Britto to give a rather glossy look to the film that is set in the upper echelons of society even if the hero is a middle-class guy. He gets actors to play their age, and doesn’t burden them with scenes that require a sense of compelling ‘acting.’ He just gives them enough to make them likeable. They have to be pushy, needy, disoriented, happy, confused, sad, distraught, euphoric, practical, hopeful, and angry… and Dhanush ensures each of the actors are all this and also a spitting image of himself. Except Mathew Thomas who is operating in a different league altogether.

The film is rather simple. There’s a boy, Prabhu (Pavish), and a girl, Nila (Anikha). Boy is a chef, and girl is a foodie. Boy sees girl, girl sees boy and both fall in love. And then, for a particular reason, they fall out of love. Now, there’s another girl, Preethi (Priya Prakash Varrier). Boy is still a chef, and the girl wants to be a homemaker. They have a past; they like each other and want to get married. But then… due to a particular reason, boy decides to attend the marriage of his ex. Will old flames rekindle? Will new flames extinguish? Will the existing flames continue to be fanned? It is these questions that are answered through quite an interesting and young ensemble featuring the likes of Pavish, Mathew Thomas, Anikha Surendran, Rabiya Khatoon, Ramya Ranganathan, Venkatesh Menon, Priya Prakash Varrier, and Siddhartha Shankar.

Ramya, Venkatesh, Rabiya, and Siddhartha play pivotal roles in Dhanush’s Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam

Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam is also bolstered by the presence of veterans like Sarathkumar, Saranya Ponvannan, and Naren, who lend immediate dignity to their roles, and do the heavy lifting. These are also some of the most cliched scenes we have seen in films for years together, and it is their presence that shakes things up a bit. Dhanush, who has written and directed the film, also liberally uses references from his illustrious career and personal life to pepper the proceedings. Mathew’s ringtone is ‘Oodhungada Sangu’ from Velaiyilla Pattadhaari, and his dog is named Harry Potter. There is a semi-interesting hat-tip to the Ilaiyaraaja-AR Rahman debate. There are lines about genius, friendship, twisted romance, and family, which are straight out of the Dhanush films we have grown to adore.

The dialogues in NEEK are not too memorable, and it feels like it is designed that way because the film isn’t supposed to be a pining romance that showcases hurt and pain. In fact, there is such a light-heartedness throughout the film that even though there is pining, hurt, and pain, we have a wry smile here and a full-fledged laugh there because Dhanush doesn’t fully show it to us via the lens of an adult. At its core, NEEK is still about people in their early-mid 20s, and it is almost like Dhanush saying, these love stories might seem like the world to them, but the reality will be different very soon… why bother them with it now?

Here’s the Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam trailer:

But this light-heartedness becomes a major discomfort for the film after a while because when it is time to wrap up the fun show, Dhanush starts hurrying things. With the film already having one love story too many, he does bring in one more story, which exists mainly to further the narrative. While this angle does have an interesting aspect to it, especially with the performance, it feels more like a means to an end, and it doesn’t really work because that end is too random. Plus, with the entire second half about how a particular secret stays with Prabhu and Rajesh, the way it reaches the other principal characters is a classic case of wrapping up a gift neatly only to mess up the bow. And once again, there’s one secret too many that disrupts the seemingly organic flow of things. However, even when the film shows signs of crumbling, Mathew’s Rajesh swoops in to save the day, and whenever the film has him around, it is in safe hands. But make no mistake, NEEK is also the showreel for Pavish, Anikha, Rabiya, Ramya, and Venkatesh.

Mathew Thomas and Pavish play best friends in Dhanush’s Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam

We are shown that Pavish can dance, look cute, have fun, utter inanity, charm his way into our hearts with his smile and demeanour. Is he completely convincing? Not really, but probably when he shakes off the Dhanush-isms, he just might. We are shown that Anikha can dance, look cute, have fun, carry intensity, and charm her way into our hearts with her smile and demeanour. Is she completely convincing? Not really, but she will get there because the talent will outshine the burden of past characters as a child actor. And the same holds good with the others too, who have very specific roles to play in the film, and they manage to do so to quite an extent. There is a rare moment of vulnerability in Rabiya’s character towards the end, and she aces that scene with her micro expressions. Venkatesh is used as the perfect foil to Mathew’s character and is an excellent comic relief in an already funny film. Ramya gets a comparatively raw deal but she makes the best use of it, and dances like a dream. Essentially, NEEK is structured to give Tamil cinema a new set of actors who can act, dance, emote, and be convincing on screen. How much of it translates into opportunities is anybody’s guess, but no one can say Tamil cinema doesn’t have young actors anymore.

ALSO READ: Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam trailer: Dhanush directorial to tell the tale of a group of youngsters ‘caught between love and love failure’

NEEK is a different genre for Dhanush, the director, who touches upon romance of a different kind in this film. He’s done blossoming of love and mature romance in his debut, Pa Paandi. He’s done young and unabashed romance in his sophomore directorial, Raayan. He’s done younger and even more unabashed romance in NEEK. Dhanush has fun with the genre, and seemingly pushes the boundaries of right and wrong, but never really goes the full extent. As in, there are Selvaraghavan territories that the film skirts around, but Dhanush doesn’t really go deep into it, because he doesn’t want to. Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam isn’t a Selva film… it is a Dhanush film. And as the credits roll with a tantalising promise, one understands that Dhanush loves the stereotypes of the genre, and he loves his leads. But considering his filmography, it just makes sense that Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam is almost a ‘Sorry and Thank You’ dedication to the most thankless role in Tamil cinema… the hero’s friend.

Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam Movie Cast: Pavish, Mathew Thomas, Anikha Surendran, Rabiya Khatoon, Ramya Ranganathan

Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam Movie Director: Dhanush

Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam Movie Rating: 3 / 5