Yennamo Nadakkuthu – Movie Review
Review Overview
Performance
Screenplay
Technical Aspects
Twists galore
Overall, Yennamo Nadakkuthu is a tale of twists. Though not an edge-of-the-seat thriller, it does succeed in keeping you glued for a major part of the film's running time.
Cast : Vijay Vasanth, Mahima, Prabhu, Rahman, Thambi Ramaiah & Others
Music : Premgiamaren
Cinematography : Venkatesh
Editing : Praveen – Srikanth
Direction : Raja Pandi
Production : Vinoth Kumar
Run Time : 2:10:00
Release Date : 25-04-2014
Yennamo Nadakkuthu is racy, unpolished and has formidable performances from the cast. Director Raja’s writing is brilliant at one extreme and passable on the other. If the director had done away with few gangster cliches that are fateful to a noir film, this could have been a better film on screen.
The film starts off promisingly setting the tone of a gangster saga. Kumar (Vijay Vasanth) gets abducted by a gang of thugs and we get to know that Rahman (Burma) is the leader of the gang. Apparently, Kumar has run away with huge chunks of money, which we could only imagine of. Money is the macguffin around which the entire screenplay is woven. Then, the story is narrated as flashback with a voice-over in the background. Kumar plays the role of a guy who sticks film posters. He has his own set of friends and Saranya Ponvannan, who plays his mother, has delivered one of the best performances.
Burma needs to procure the money at once, otherwise his career would be at stake. Parthiban (Prabhu) is a successful boxer and a good companion of Burma. Circumstances make Burma act against Prabhu for money and his desire for a career in politics blinds him to betray Parthiban by plotting to murder him, again, for money. Again, circumstances make Kumar join as a side-kick in Burma’s gang. Since the entire plot is intertwined with each character having a purposeful role, revealing more about the story would be tantamount to doing injustice to the film. Why did Kumar flee with the money? The entire film is about finding answer for this question.
The first half of the film has a template love track between Kumar and Madhu (Saattai fame Mahima). Though an integral part of the film, there are certain portions that could have been trimmed to make us invested more in the film’s tone than this boring, pretty much worked-out love story. After the promising first fifteen minutes, the film wanders a little. But, Saranya as Kumar’s mother has given a beautiful performance. She has shaken her leg, rendered her voice for a song and even speaks fluent Madras Tamil. One wonders how the quintessential and naive Saranya that we have always known of, has mastered Madras Tamil so easily. She is the saving grace in the first half.
The writing is taut and picks up steam in the second half, leaving no loopholes. But, few cliches that we repeatedly watch in every gangster film has been retained here too and that makes this one no different from others. The first half is loaded with too much melodrama and looks merely formulated for the sake of it.
Vijay Vasanth has given a good performance. Editing duo Praveen and Srikanth has done a commendable work and it looks apparent in the last half an hour of the film. Premji Amaran’s background score too needs a special mention. We feel, this is his best film till date.
Yennamo Nadakkuthu, though not the best gangster film, works reasonably well and needs to be applauded for the effort. The film may not be an edge-of-the-seat thriller, but it does keep you glued for a major part of the film’s running time.