Neram Movie Review - Works in parts

by Bharath Vijayakumar

Debutant director Alphonse Putharen's debut vehicle Neram is yet another attempt from a promising youngster to do away from the clichés of mainstream cinema. Projects backed by Udhayanidhi Stalin have more often than not been spot on. Is Neram worth your time? Read on to find.

Plot

Neram tracks the events that happen within a day. Vettri (Nivin) is a youngster in a deep financial crisis after losing his job. He borrows money from a ruthless money lender named 'Vatti Raja' (Simha) who will go to any extent to get back his dues. Just when Vettri is about to return the money he is robbed of it. Added to this there are other woes waiting for him. And he has very little time to get out of all this.

Cast

Nivin does a decent job. He does have the looks that will aid him in roles where he is either the handsome guy next door or the tough action hero. You somehow feel he could have done better. Particularly in the scenes where he is helpless the tension of the situation is not entirely palpable. Nazriya Nazeem is cute and does whatever is required of her convincingly. Simha steals the show with his portrayal. He seems to be game for different roles. In a role that is almost diametrically opposite to the one he played in the recent Soodhu Kavvum Simha shines once again. Nasser amazes with the ease of a veteran in such a short role. John Vijay as the eccentric police officer keeps some laughs coming. Thambi Ramaiyya is adequate but some of his jokes do fall flat.

Technical Crew

The technical team of Neram should possibly be going places. Rajesh Murugesan's songs are catchy. 'Kaadhal Ennule' is definitely the pick of the album. The lens work of Anand C. Chandhran is commendable. The film has a realistic look to it and there is not anything that is flashy. Alphonse Putharen has also taken care of the editing. The movie has several plots running in parallel that converge at many places and yet the proceedings are quite clear.

Despite the fair share of pluses Neram does not exactly hits the bull’s eye. If the intention of Alphonse was to make a thriller that is also high on the humour quotient he has only partially succeeded. It is also unfair to him that Soodhu Kavvum that almost perfected this genre released just a few days back. Despite the short running time of just over two hours the tension that is such a must for a thriller is missing. The humour is definitely not run of the mill. But there are times when it looks puerile. The starting credits that has Alphonse cleverly agreeing to the famous anecdote of Quentin Tarantino  “I steal from every single movie ever made” make us sit up in anticipation that we are going to watch the work of a confident filmmaker. The makers also need credit as Neram seems to be genuine bilingual (Malayalam and Tamil) with a separate cast and a proper lip sync.
 

Bottomline

Neram is a sincere attempt from a young team. It does not scale the heights that the initial sequences promise. But it might be a decent time pass if you go in without much expectations.

Rating - 2.75/5