|

|
EDITOR'S PICK
'Nannbenda'
- Where are the jokes? (IANS Tamil Movie Review)
Rating:
**
In the opening scene of 'Nannbenda', we see Sathya (Udhay) breaking out of a
prison, and we're explained why in the flashback. There's a sense of curiosity
and some element of suspense as you wonder what the hero of a romantic comedy
could've possibly done to end up here.
You wonder maybe this is a suspense comedy, going by all the jokes in the
trailer, and patiently hope for the story to take you by surprise. And as we get
to know about Sathya's past, everything that was built initially falls flat,
forcing you to quickly come to the conclusion that the suspense angle doesn't
quite work in this comedy.
In the flashback, you sit back and wait for the jokes. After all, this is the
movie featuring the hit combination of Santhanam and Udhay, who earlier starred
in the extremely funny 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi' (Ok Ok). You wait for the jokes
more so because the makers promoted 'Nannbenda' as the sequel to 'Ok Ok', and
that, I think, was their biggest mistake. The jokes never come and the few funny
lines you may come across aren't funny enough.
By trying to piggyback on the popularity of 'Ok Ok', and by setting high
expectations, the makers have dug their own grave in which you can ask them to
bury their unfunny jokes. In a film like 'Nannbenda', which follows the same
template used by hit comedies such as 'Boss Engira Bhaskaran' and 'Theeya Vella
Seiyyanum Kumaru', ideally, one shouldn't expect any story, but one needs
something to get entertained, especially when the darn movie runs for nearly two
and half hours.
Sathya, jobless, stays with his parents in Thanjavur. On the first day of every
month, he travels to another city to meet his chuddy-buddy Sivkozhunthu
(Santhanam). The chuddy reference is too literal here, for they have grown up,
as Sathya proudly announces in celebration of their friendship, wearing each
other's undies. Yikes!
On one such trip to meet his friend, Sathya ends up falling for Ramya, at first
sight, because his mom once said if he accidentally meets a girl thrice in a
day, she's his life and wife. Sathya stays back with the objective to make or
force Ramya to fall for him. And she does, quite naturally, like most heroines
in Tamil films. But before the happy ending, so much goes on and sadly most of
it is outright boring.
Ramya, for instance, has a past in which she has done jail time. Apparently, she
had to spend 10 days behind bars for killing her ex-boss's dog. She hasn't
shared this secret (which is an insult to the word itself) with anyone but
Sathya, who makes a mockery of it, only to upset her more.
If you thought this was annoyingly silly, there's a sub-plot about Santhanam's
romance with Sherin, whose character is desperate to go on a honeymoon. There
are two villains who lock horns quite a few times but we don't understand why.
Rajendran plays one of the villains, and he tries his best to be funny, but it's
in a comedy that's hardly funny.
Udhay is much better than he was in 'Ok Ok'. He dances well, looks comfortable
in most scenes and successfully pulls off a decent action sequence. But he
chooses the wrong film to showcase he's more than an actor, who usually relies
on Santhanam and his jokes.
Not sure if Santhanam is funny anymore but 'Nannbenda', which completely rests
on his shoulders, is a romantic comedy in which the romance consists largely of
unromantic characters that are annoying and the comedy consists of jokes....
well, where the hell are they?
Actor-producer Udhayanidhi Stalin says his forthcoming Tamil comedy "Nanbendaa, which releases on Thursday, could be referred to as the sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit "Oru Kal Oru Kannadi" (Ok Ok).Read More
'Nanbenda' could be called 'Ok Ok' part 2: UdhayanidhiActor-producer Udhayanidhi Stalin says his forthcoming Tamil comedy "Nanbendaa, which releases on Thursday, could be referred to as the sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit "Oru Kal Oru Kannadi" (Ok Ok).Read More