Movie Review - Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom is a good attempt

Debutant director Balaji Tharanitharan's Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (NKPK) is a worthy attempt at making a clean fun film with loads of laughter aided by a bunch of new faces. The movie had  quite a positive buzz leading up to its release thanks mainly to the positive feedback given by well known film makers from tinsel town who had seen the movie at a special screening. The success of Vijay Sethupathi's last outing Pizza too has raised the stakes for NKPK. 

Plot 

An accident during a harmless cricket match between a bunch of friends results in temporary loss of memory for the protagonist who forgets everything that has happened to him in the past year. To make matters worse his wedding is only a day away. His 3 best buddies, who are the only people aware of this, decide to conceal this fact and somehow get the wedding done. Things are not going to be easy what with the bridegroom not even aware of the girl he is going to marry!

Cast and Crew 

The major strength of the film is it's fresh cast. This is the movie that Vijay Sethupathy had signed after Thenmerku Paruvakaatru. The young man has done a neat job as the protagonist who has no clue about what is happening around him. But it is the three actors who play his friends who make the film click to a certain extent. Their comic timing is impeccable and they look more like characters from real life with almost no artificiality about them. The three of them seem so different from each other and look like persons from different walks of life. Gayathri (earlier seen in 18 vayasu) who plays the heroine does not have much screen space. 

 
Ved Shankar who scored music for the critically acclaimed Paalai and Madhubaana Kadai has composed the songs. Surprisingly only two songs seem to have made it to  the final copy of the film (If I remember right the music album originally had 5 tracks). One during the starting credits and the other one immediately after intermission!!! Background score by Siddarth Vippin is adequate. The look and feel of the movie is akin to a short film.

 
Balaji Tharanitharan needs to appreciated for trying out something new without making any commercial compromises. There are genuinely funny moments throughout the movie that will have you in splits. The wedding scene towards the climax is the icing on the cake. The characters are relatable. But the movie seems to be running forever. Length is its major drawback. That the leading man has to repeat one particular dialogue throughout the movie leads to exasperation after a certain point. A crisper version of the movie would have worked better. The running length is close to 3 hours. This is even more surprising given the fact that there are no action sequences and almost no songs. 

Bottom-line

If laughter is the best medicine then NKPK is a reasonably good pharmacy for you to visit. It might not appeal to all. The reason for this is not the content but the running time of the movie and certain scenes which are repetitive. Yet on the whole this is a good attempt at making a fun filled offbeat entertainer based on a real life incident that is clean without any double-entendres.