‘Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam’ movie review: Mathew Thomas steals the show in Dhanush’s rocky rom-com

Some hilarious stretches and a wonderful Mathew Thomas almost saves Dhanush’s third directorial ‘Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam’

A line from the ‘Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam’ song from the 1962 Tamil film Policekaran Magalgoes, “Kulungum mundhaanai sirikum athanai viratuvathu yenadiyo? Unthan kodiyidai indru padai kondu vanthu kolluvathu yenadiyo.” While this beautiful Tamil line by Kannadasan might sound like Greek and Latin to today’s Gen Z and Alpha generation and their take on contemporary relationships, the ever-evolving concept of love has stayed constant. Similarly, Dhanush, in his third directorial — a complete contrast from his first, Pa Paandi, which dealt with yesteryear love — shares a story of love(s) in today’s time with a bit of old-school touch in Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobamaka NEEK.

The story revolves around Prabhu (Pavish), who, after a heartbreak, is all set to meet a prospective partner, Preethi (Priya Prakash Varrier), when he gets a wedding invite from his ex-girlfriend Nila (Anikha). With confidence that watching her get hitched won’t crumble him to dust, and his trusty friend Rajesh (Matthew Thomas) for company, Prabhu attends Preethi’s multiple wedding functions like sangeet and mehndi as he processes multiple stages of his grief. In this “vazhakamana kadhal kadhai” as Dhanush likes to call his film, there are also Prabhu and Nila’s other friends, Venky (Venkatesh Menon) and Sriya (Rabiya Khatoon), and wedding planner Anjali (Ramya Ranganathan).

An interesting pattern in all of Dhanush’s directorials is how simple the core plots are. What makes them stand out is the treatment he lends to it. NEEK, in this regard,is no different. Gone are the days when a boy met a girl, they fell in love, overcame the odds and lived happily ever after. In today’s world, where love confessions can happen in a restroom, couples take selfies so that they can commemorate their first fight and moments before a couple’s first kiss can get ruined because one of them wants to puke, relationships are as complex as ever. Dhanush takes this contemporary take on relationships as his canvas in which he opts for broad strokes on a barrage of topics instead of zooming into one.

Apart from Prabhu and Nila’s love story, there’s also Venky and Sriya’s on-and-off relationship. Rajesh’s status is the perfect example of calling a relationship ‘complicated’ and Anjali, seeing the plight of Prabhu at Nila’s wedding, develops a soft corner that blossoms into something more. Thrown into the equation are the seniors played by Sarathkumar, Aadukalam Naren and Saranya Ponvannan who do a fine job of pulling the youngsters as well as the film back on track when they go sideways.

And hitches are aplenty in NEEK with the glaring one being the lead pair. Dhanush’s nephew Pavish, in his debut outing, struggles to fit in, like his character in the film. Be it the emotional stretches where the character’s vulnerability shows up or the “mass” moments when this middle-class boy tackles his girlfriend’s rich dad, his acting prowess — or the lack thereof — makes it difficult for us to root for him. When he’s not mimicking Dhanush, he tries to get cover behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Anikha, as the female lead, is seen mostly reacting to her circumstances, with little agency.

It’s Matthew Thomas, the most experienced of the young crop of actors in NEEK, who ends up as the show-stealer with a stellar performance. Breaking the age-old stereotypes affiliated with the character who plays the hero’s friend, Dhanush etches Matthew’s Rajesh with gravitas and the actor pulls it off effectively. The rest of the young cast have their fair share of sequences in which they shine.

Another takeaway from NEEK is how Dhanush laces the film with his love for films of the bygone era with a pinch of his own life. The lead character’s name happens to be Dhanush’s real name, Venkatesh Prabhu, and just like the actor’s initial wish of turning a chef, Prabhu too plays one. Rajesh’s phone ringtone is ‘Oodhungada Sangu’ and his dog is named Harry Potter, a direct reference to Dhanush’s Velaiyilla Pattathari, and Prabhu’s house looks eerily similar to the one from VIP, making one believe that Saranya playing the mother in both films is anything but incidental. There are references to AR Rahman and Ilaiyaraja and Dhanush even uses the ‘Ithu Enna Maatram’ track from 7G Rainbow Colony as a hat-tip to his brother. Speaking of music, GV Prakash, who is on a roll, does a wonderful job and so does Leon Britto whose camerawork adds a colourful gloss to NEEK.