Natchathiram Nagargirathu

Pa. Ranjith's new movie feels a personal statement to "Naataka Kaadhal" but that is not the movie is all about. The story revolving around a drama troupe at Pondicherry, a group full of people with varied opinions (political or otherwise). As they try to prepare for a play on love, the clash of ideals brings out the differences and the eventual impact on the individuals. If one thinks this is all there is, the third act throws in a terrific surprise elevating the movie.

Rene aka Tamizh being the central character, one of the many characters that are written to mirror the society's harsh reality, is the best written one. The character of Arjun is the one with a better arc as he stands for everything wrong in prejudiced upper caste male with no understanding of political correctness. The narrative that is mostly conversational is effectively merged into the on screen play which stands out for the set design and make up along with the performances, firmly aided by those songs.

I am surprised how i didn't feel the runtime at all and that is solely due to the surprise character entry in the third act, as mysterious the character is, it directly felt like an interaction beyond the screen. The rebels vs the self proclaimed protector for the society, a top notch touch towards the end. To point out the shortcomings, though thr story dwells into genderless love as well, the same sex love stories and the trans couple story gets reduced to dialogues.

RATED 9/10 Language: Tamil Source: Nil RECOMMENDED

From the beginning to end the movie is not deviated from the core subject. No extra scenes, sentiments and comedies. These are are very much positive points to the movie at the same time sidelines the movie into artistic one rather than entertaining one.

This is pure Art-Cult-Brave movie and must watch for every cinema lovers. The first half looks filled with more conversations and bit over done, might be I got this feeling because of all scenes shot in single location. The second half is bit breezy. The Movie is point blank at the same time it was funny in places.

The biggest strength of this movie is the dialogs. There is some hidden gem shots like "door with light rays on Buddha painting and the person sitting near the wild cat in climax" The climax fight is bit hurried wind-up but I liked this one. The "beach meet" after climax fight is cherry on top scene.

Must watch for everyone, especially who want to self analyse the love life...

I really wanted to love this movie, but unfortunately it is a bit too messy and meanders (especially the first half) a bit too much for me to like it.

This is a bold attempt and social commentary and message(s) ( there is far too many and only 1 or may be 2 gets proper resolution or justice - all others just gets thrown around )

I think the basic problem was that the movie was like a druggie rapping - it was raw, real and mostly hitting out some hard-hitting truth - but lacks cohesion, resolution and completeness !

The acting is largely good, music is pretty decent and script is good as well.

Had this been edited a bit more crispier and some unwanted social commentary removed (those the core of the movie is not addressing ) it would have been a compelling watch.

Politics of Love . Natchathiram Nagargiradhu was beautiful movie . Well written and very well executed . Asusual Pa. Ranjith didn't fail to give equal scope for all characters in the movie , each and every character were well designed . Movie tells about love and it's politics , actually this kinda topic was really intresting and thought provoking , it was deep rooted into the topic . Dialogues were back bone of the movie , it was hard hitting and strong . This time making was bit different from Pa Ranjith , surreal type of making was good ( Dope vro ) . My favorite part was Village portion , actually they didn't try to make us laugh but it was totally hilarious . Music and songs were good from Tenma . Technically cinematography was awesome and good editing . Overall a must watch movie .

For what's a 4-star film in its political ideology (and progressivism), NN felt very anti-climactic to me, and hence, I'm going with 3.5. The whole stretch with Shabeer Kallarackal (though he's a wonderful actor) was bizarrely staged. I get that it was supposed to be bizarre in the first place, but it failed to evoke the right emotion in me when the rest of the film seamlessly managed that.

Pa Ranjith's NN is more of a statement on love than a love story. It asks relevant questions on modern love, answers some of them (subtly and extravagantly), and leaves the rest for audiences to interpret themselves and make room for improvement and inclusion. Dushara Vijayan's performance (as René) is splendid, never holding herself back from expressing exactly how she feels about everything - be it love, music, food, or societal discrimination. Boldly written and performed, René is certainly among my favorite Pa Ranjith protagonists. Kalaiyarasan comes next in line for portraying a biased, pre-conditioned person who turns over a new leaf eventually. His transformation is the one that feels complete.

Kalidas Jayaram and the rest of the ensemble are okayish, relegated to characters that are less memorable. Some LGBTQ representation is added as well, but they serve little in forwarding the film's plot, as the theme of the play the theater group eventually settles on, has little to do with queer love. But it's wonderful to see them in the film nonetheless, especially in those discussions about love (and its politics) early on. Tenma's music is also an essential ingredient that kept me interested all through. The best stretch in the film was the subversion of endogamy in a scene where Kalaiyarasan's character goes home to visit his dying granny.