Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom

Synopsis: A slip-up on the cricket field results in short-term memory loss for Prem (Vijay Sethupathy), who is set to marry his lover Dhanalakshmi (Gayatri) in a couple of days. When a night in a hospital doesn’t bring him to normalcy, Prem’s three baffled friends — Bags (Bagavathi Perumal), Bajji (Rajkumar) and Saras (Vigneswaran) — decide to get him to tie the knot without the groom’s and bride’s families (including Dhanam herself) realizing his condition.

Review: The very first shot of NKPK, the camera panning from a ‘Beware of Dogs’ sign with a picture of a ferocious-looking dog to a meek-looking Pomeranian, is an indication of what Balaji Tharaneetharan has in store. The debutant director shows that you can make an entertaining three-hour film in Tamil without any additional frills like songs or fights using dollops of humour. Basing his film on a real-life incident (involving its cameraman Premkumar) that seems implausible even for a movie, Balaji scripts a film that is not just engaging but also endearing.

What is refreshing is that Balaji sets up the film in a simple and very relatable way. The manner in which the ultra competitive, middle-aged Bagavathi aka Bags taunts his own friends on the opposite team feels so real and brings to mind such characters we have come across in our own life. He also nicely captures the atmosphere at a grudgingly held marriage; muted celebrations, tetchy parents and hesitant guests.

There are many moments that are instantly cult — Prem’s repetition of the circumstances of his accident, Bags description of a brain scan to Bajji, Prem’s repeated comment on the bride at the wedding — and Balaji convincingly makes them feel part of a whole rather as separate gags.

The film moves almost like a thriller, keeping us on tenterhooks, making us fear the discovery of Prem’s state. We laugh at the ineptness of his three friends — nervously during the first half (Siddharth Vipin’s eerie background score in these portions keeps us guessing on how the film might pan out) and heartily in the second — all the while cheering for them to succeed in their harebrained plan.

On the downside, the scenes could have been tighter; there are times when you get the feeling of events taking place in almost real time. And, the performances of the supporting characters are a bit off-key giving the scenes a stage play feel. But the performances of the leads are top notch. Vijay Sethupathy continues his superb show from Pizza conveying Prem’s peculiar condition with vacant stares and amusing pauses between his lines. That he never makes the character’s repetitive dialogues irritating is a proof of his terrific timing. And the trio of actors playing his friends convincingly makes us feel the terror and vulnerability of their characters. Prem might be the central character in the film but the real heroes of this bizarre story are these three friends, who, despite the flawed manner in which they approach the issue, manage to pull off the improbable.

But the film’s real success lies in the genuine rush of feel-good emotion it leaves you with as it ends; it is at once a relief and a celebration.

Hot Tip: An instant cult comedy that delivers the laughs big time. Don’t miss it.