Nunakkuzhi

Nunakuzhi explores how Eby, a company MD gets linked to a chain of incidents leading to chaos. Did he manages to escape from it?. Enjoy this fun ride movie to unveil the surprise

The most important factor in a multi linked story is the way individual stories shape up and gets connected to each other. That’s where the first credit goes to writer Krishnakumar. There is MD Vava alias Eby where the linking begins. Also, there is Grace Antony’s character who gets unintentionally involved in another incident. The way Krishnakumar connects subplots and creates chaos is just hilarious. Some initial scenes gave ‘Vaalvi’ kind of vibe. Though it gets predictable at times, Jeethu Joseph makes sure that the chaos never gets to a tiring or irritating mode. Special mention to the dialogues. For instance in a scene, Siddique’s character replies to Eby like ‘Police kar idichal nee ithinekkal vrithikku karayum’. The situation where the comic one-liners were delivered makes it easy to work out.

Cuts were nice enough to maintain the flow of the pivotal incidents and conversations. Background score carries the energy of the total movie and maintains the curiosity factor of where is this leading to. Title song was placed aptly but the other song wasn’t that needed for the movie.

Though Basil scores well with his unique mannerisms and comic timing, best performer in the cast list should be Baiju Santhosh. The way he reacts to stories in hospital conversation portions is just superb.(‘Kolamass’ as per one of his dialogue). Siddiqui too shines with his dialogue delivery and quick reactions. Manoj K jayan and Binu Pappu were notable too. Grace was convincing in conveying the conflict of her character. The way she narrates incidents during investigation scenes added laugher at needed portions. Nikhila Vimal and Swasika had nothing much to do in the movie.

Though at very minimal instances, humor at times felt bit forced. For instance: minor conversation scene about calorie comparison, getting exaggerated. I felt like bridge conversation portions were stretched bit too much. I think the way Jeethu portrayed alchohol drinking in this movie could have been better. These aren’t at all reasons to stay away from the movie.
Just go to the big screen and watch this Paisa vasool slapstick crime comedy entertainer. It will make you stay away from your sorrows for a couple of hours and offers few laugh-out-loud moments. Towards the end, Jeethu gives an indication of a sequel, which is much like a ritual in today’s movies. Surely waiting for that, if it happens.

Neru

Sara, a skilled sculpture artist who fight against Micheal, son of a Mumbai based business tycoon after she files a rape case. Did she manage to get justice?. Neru sheds light onto this case.

In Drishyam franchise, Jeethu Joseph narrates a story where a normal family had to fight justice against accused with power and money. (There are few Drishyam references in this movie too). Here, he places a similar backdrop but approach is contradictory.
Protagonist is an underconfident advocate who feels he doesn’t have the fire to fight because he was away from practise for years. Writer duo Jeethu and Santhi managed to add a believable backstory regarding his past.

The most impressive part in court proceedings is how protagonist approaches the case. Even though there is enough scope for personal revenge, protagonist never takes that into priority. He even says ,”Even if I fails, victim should not”. Jeethu knew about the lack of twists and turns like Drishyam or Memories. He laid focus on making the narration more engrossing and he succeeded in it. For instance: Main witnesses interrogation portions and scene where protagonist validates the genuity of a pivotal evidence.

Though bit too loud towards the end, background score was so effective in portraying the ruthlessness of the antagonist and defense lawyer. Cuts were pretty fine though certain scenes involving Shanthi’s character should have been trimmed. Roohe song sung by Karthik was soothing to hear, especially when end title started rolling.

It’s always a pleasure to watch Lalettan in full flow as the lawyer reluctantly restarting his job and later executing his plan to prove the truth. Look out for his magic in the scenes where he first meets the victim and later stands with wet eyes towards the end. Answara is the real surprise show stealer as the blind victim. She was just stunning with her reactions, be it panic, helplessness or taking her strong stand (Especially regarding consent). Though Jagadeesh had limited screen space, he too did notably well. Negative character is just bread and butter for Sidhique and he was outstanding in court scenes. Writer duo gave enough build up regarding the professionalism of his character and his menacing performance did live up to the buildup.

The main negative was the placement of a main twist regarding the identification of accused. If that twist was introduced in the beginning of court scenes, case would have been closed by then. I expected Jeethu to treat court scenes in more realistic way, mainly because lawyer Santhi is also part of writing. But Jeethu took bit of cinematic liberty in narration.
If the viewer expectation is set as an emotional courtroom drama and not another Drishyam, this movie is surely worth a watch.

The story of things

It’s not common that horror or supernatural dramas offer surprise package to the audience. SonyLiv original Tamil anthology series ‘The story of things’ contains 5 short about how old or replaced things communicates with a person.

First episode ‘Weighing scale’ highlights the journey of a struggling actor and problems happening after an incident.Writer really well portrays the conflict between success and guilt.Background score along with the compelling performance of Bharath helps in building tense moments. The only concern was the unnecessary focus on horror part of the episode title though some of them works well.

Second episode ‘Cellular phone’ revolves around Vannamayil (or VM) and her bonding with her mother. Writer initially establishes the conservative nature of mother character and how Vannamayil got adapted to a scheduled life. Dialogues including a story narration in different scenes smartly adds nuances to the narration. For instance: the tale of a dog fallen in a well. Though the horror element is not very nerve chilling, the director maintains the supernatural ambience really well. The Final emotional breakdown was really touching. Aditi balan did justice to her role as the overthinking ‘VM’.

Probably weaker compared to the others, third episode ‘Compressor’ is about the weird incidents happening for a couple when they buy an old model AC. Director maintains the supernatural element throughout by utilizing silence and the sound of the AC as required. Background score manages to create scary moments and effectively bring in the conflict between the interactions of the couple.Main drawback was that the writer never tried to explain those weird incidents unlike the previous 2. Climax remained wanting more for a finish. Slow burning style may not be acceptable for everyone.

Fourth episode ‘Car’ focuses on ‘Brito’ who experiences incidents similar to his childhood memories and shows why travels back to his old house after years. The main similarity of 2nd and this story is that both portray wrong parenting.Siddique nails his role as the strict and abusive father. Shanthanu Bhagyaraj lends equally good support as Britto who carries the trauma and is scared of cars because of his daunting past His performance adds authenticity to the transformation of the character.Unlike the 3rd one, the Director manages to make a clear indication of the hallucination and supernatural elements in the narration.Climax revelation was smart enough and unexpected.

As we say ‘Save the best for the last’, fifth episode ‘Mirror’ is the best of the lot.Sethu, a guy with suicidal tendency witnesses a life inside an old mirror in his new house.Background score maintains the pleasant feel mostly. Interaction scenes of protagonist and girl are joy to watch and refreshment from the dark mood set by the other stories. Anshitha Anand and Vinoth Kishan share a sweet chemistry between them and that makes the short more enjoyable.Climax, particularly the last 5 min turn around seems a bit confusing but the uniqueness complements the unusual ending.
Final revelation will make viewers wonder how this was actually written and that makes this one an engaging watch.

Watch link: https://www.sonyliv.com/shows/story-of-things-tamil-1700001109/weighing-scale-1000203234