Movie Review by Mahalakshmi

NANBAN (TAMIL VERSION)

SYNOPSIS OF THE MOVIE

Nanban is the tamil version of Bollywood movie, 3 idiots which was directed by Shankar. The movie starts with a flashback mode by Venkat Ramakrishnan (Srikanth). Venkat Ramakrishnan, Panchavan Parivendhan-also known as Pari (Vijay) and Sevarkodi Senthil (Jeeva) are roommates. Venkat has an interest in being a wildlife photographer but he was studying engineering just to fulfill his parents dream. As for Senthil, he has the interest in pursuing engineering but he believes in prayer (God) more than himself. Pari has his own method of studying. However, this different approach is sneered upon by the faculties, including the dean of the college, Professor Virumandi "Virus" Santhanam (Sathyaraj). In contrast, Virus' favourite student, Srivatsan (Sathyan), also known as "Silencer", believes in mindless memorizing over understanding, in order to reach his goals of corporate and social status. Meanwhile, Pari falls in love with Virus' daughter who was a medical student Ria (Ileana D’Cruz) when he, Senthil and Venkat accidentally crash her sister's wedding banquet to obtain a free meal, which infuriates Virus. Virus labels Pari and his friends as "idiots" and continually attempts to break Pari's friendship with Senthil and Venkat.Things further escalate when the three friends drunkenly break into Virus's house one night to allow Pari to confess his love to Ria, and urinate on the front door before fleeing. The next day, Virus threatens to rusticate Senthil unless he squeals on Pari. Not wanting to betray his friend or let down his family, Senthil attempts suicide and ends up paralyzed. Following his recovery, Senthil discards his fear of the future. Encouraged by Pari, both Senthil and Venkat gain courage to do what they were afraid to do before. Senthil takes a frank approach in an interview for a corporate job, while Venkat convinces his parents to allow him to pursue his love of wildlife photography, both successful in their endeavors.When Virus discovers that Senthil successfully obtained a job offer, he conspires to prevent him from getting the job by creating an exam paper so tough that will deliberately fail Senthil. When Ria learns of his plan, she helps Pari and Venkat by providing them with the keys to her father's office. However, Virus catches them and expels them on the spot. Ria angrily confronts him, revealing that his son, Ria's brother, committed suicide when he could not get into IEC, like Virus demanded, even though he had no interest in engineering and instead wished to be a writer. At the same time, Ria's pregnant older sister Swetha (Anuya Bhagvath) goes into labor. A heavy rainstorm cuts all power and floods the streets, making it impossible for the ambulance to reach Swetha, and Ria is stuck at her hospital, where she had fled. Pari, Senthil and Venkat come to the rescue, along with other students from IEC. Over phone and webcam, Ria instructs Pari to deliver the baby. After the baby is apparently stillborn, Pari resuscitates the baby by leading the students in saying "All is well". Virus reconciles with Pari and his friends, and allows them to stay for their final exams.Their story is framed as intermittent flashbacks from the present day, ten years after Srivatsan bet that he'd become more successful than Pari. Having lost contact with Pari, who disappeared during the graduation party and went into seclusion, after five years, Senthil and Venkat begin a journey to find him. They are joined by Srivatsan, now a wealthy and successful professional in the USA, who is looking to seal a deal with a famous scientist and prospective business associate named Kosaksi Pasapugazh. When they find Pari's house in Ooty, they find a completely different man: the real Pari (S.J.Surya).From him, they come to know that their friend was a destitute servant boy "Pappu" who loved learning, while he, the real Pari, disliked study. After seeing the boy's intelligence, the family agreed to let the servant boy study in Pari's place instead of laboring. In return, the real Pari would pocket his qualifications and after graduating, the servant boy will cease all contact. The real Pari reveals that Pappu is now a schoolteacher in Dhanushkodi. At the same time, they find out that, without Pari, Ria decided to marry the same price-obsessed banker that Pari initially talked her into dumping, and they go to rescue her from the wedding in Coimbatore.Senthil and Venkat find Ria and arrive at Pari’s school. Ria and the fake Pari rekindle their love, while Srivatsan mocks Pari for becoming a lowly school teacher. He asks Pari to sign a "Declaration of Defeat" document. When Pari's friends ask what his real name is, he reveals that he is actually Kosaksi Pasapugazh himself. Upon learning this, Srivatsan accepts his defeat and pleads his case with Kosaksi Pasapugazh to establish the business relationship he was after.

MOVIE review

First of all, I understood that we shouldn’t just study in order to gain a degree and get better job. We should love what we are studying and understand it well, so that, it will be useful for us in the future. Not only that, we need to pursue in what we are interested. Not just study whatever others study. This is because to gain a better result, knowledge itself is not enough. We need interest as well. Not only that, the phrase ‘all is well’ is a kind of magic. Not sure about others, but as for me, sometimes it works well to me. Somehow, I’ll know how to control my heart by lying to it. When Pari was a kid, he always wanted to study and enlarge his knowledge. But since he is a gardener’s son, he doesn’t stand a chance to do so. Because of this, he will be sneaking into school by wearing his boss’s son’s school uniform. As for him, he will do anything to gain knowledge. Even in college, he will be the one to think ‘out of box’ and to be the one to stand out of the class all the time, since the lecturer don’t like the way he ask questions. Pari also have the strength and the idea to think ‘out of box’. He was able to create an inverter which could supply electricity when they are connected to car batteries. As a student, it’s an outstanding outcome. He was also able to save Virus’s grandson by using the inverter. In this movie, it clearly shows that whatever the future going to be, it should be based on your interest, not on the force by the parents. Vijay, like Aamir Khan in 3 idiots, looks young and energetic. His body language and acting are treat to watch. His friends Srikanth and Jeeva are as good as him. The duo looks replicas of Madhavan and Sharman Joshi! The trio brings a good amount of laughter throughout the movie. Ileana looks gorgeous and whenever she appears, the actress makes the audience to watch her without blinking their eyes. Sathyaraj is excellent and he is the perfect choice for the character. Sathyan shines in each and every frame and he too fits the bill. The rest of the characters including SJ Surya, who has done cameo, have played their part well. Other aspects like dialogues by Shankar and Madhan Karky are hilarious, Manoj Paramahamsa's cinematography is illuminating and Harris Jayaraj's music is wonderful.

One can hardly find out flaws in Nanban because the story does not give you a minute time to find the errors that divert your attention. When the movies are limited to two-hour plus, Nanban amazingly takes you on a long-journey without getting noticed. The film not only entertains but sends out a strong message to the current generation. The much-awaited movie is a package of fun, twists, good songs, story, crisp dialogues, and last but not the least - a serious message that will make the youths to watch it again and again.