Naanum Rowdy Thaan Movie Review

October 21, 2015

2 minutes read

Review Overview

Performances

Screenplay and Narration

Technical Aspects and BGM

A clean, lovely entertainer!

Naanum Rowdy Dhaan is a clean, lovely entertainer. Vignesh Shivan excels in his sophomore outing by creating the most inventive situations out of the most ordinary scenes. He has churned out a light-hearted crowd-pleaser which is high on laughter and devoid of over-the-top emotions.

Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Nayanthara, Parthiepan, Radhika, Anandraj, Mansor Ali Khan, RJ Balaji, Motta Rajendran & others

Cinematography: George C Williams

Music: Anirudh

Editing: Sreekar Prasad

Stunts: Dhilip Subbarayan

Art Direction: Kiran

PRO: Riaz Ahmed

Written & Directed by: Vignesh Shivan

Produced by: Dhanush’s Wunderbar Studios

Release Date: 21-10-2015

Run Time: 02:19:00

Naanum Rowdy Dhaan is a clean, lovely entertainer. Vignesh Shivan excels in his sophomore outing by creating the most inventive situations out of the most ordinary scenes. He has churned out a light-hearted crowd-pleaser which is high on laughter and devoid of over-the-top emotions. The film has dealt revenge in a most cheerful manner and the outcome is really heartening.

‘Pondy’ Pandi (Vijay Sethupathi), a wannabe rogue, is challenged by his girl friend Kaadambari (Nayanthara) to kill her worst adversary Killi Valavan (Parthiepan) to take revenge for her parents’ death.

In spite of Nayanthara’s loosely outgoing appearance, she brings in the feminine fragility of a hearing impaired person beautifully with her facial expressions aided by flawless dubbing. She revels in her subtle yet cute histrionics, which straddle between exceptionally full of life and occasional laments of a grief-stricken woman. Easily, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan is Nayanthara’s most exquisite, most memorable and best performance till date. She mouths Vignesh Shivan’s natural, realistic dialogues comfortably and her guiltless voice makes Kaadambari a delight to watch on screen.

Vijay Sethupathi luxuriates in his role as Pondy Pandi which has enough cries and odes to Sumaar Moonji Kumar, one of his most popular enactments on screen. His smashing chemistry with Nayanthara hefts up her already accomplished performance. The contrasting personalities of Nayan and Vijay Sethupathi make a perfect match for a coherent screenplay, which brims with a variety of emotions that makes you smile, laugh, slightly cry and feel sad.

The placement of songs is bang-up. The songs, which are already topping all charts, are seamlessly positioned in the narrative. Sample this: Nayanthara breaks down when she learns about her father’s murder from Radhika and the enchanting composition of Anirudh’s Kannaana Kanne plays in the background when Vijay Sethupathi arrives to the spot.

The supporting characters – Radhika, Anandraj, RJ Balaji, Azhagam Perumal – have done good justice to their roles. Particularly, Radhika as the naïve mother who wishes to see her son as a cop is endearing. RJ Balaji’s punch-lines look relevant and relatable this time and bring the roof down. Brownie points for his smart use of pop-culture wisecracks. Parthiepan excessively enjoys his role as Killi Valavan and walks away with a sublime performance in the second half, especially the pre-climax portions. The confrontation scenes between Parthiepan and Vijay Sethupathi are a scream.

Vignesh Shivan has an uncanny knack for narrating a simple story with life-like characters and nonchalant film-making. Anirudh’s background score elevates the film’s genre with George Williams’ nifty camerawork that captures Pondicherry in all its glory. Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, certainly, is a recommended watch.