Nanban: Magic Recreated

Visitor Review by Bharath Vijayakumar 

Creating magic is tough. But recreating magic is as tough, if not tougher. Shankar has done exactly that through Nanban.’3 idiots’ is still fresh in the minds among the urban audience. So comparisons with the original become unavoidable. But this is a rare case when a remake of a classic doesn't pale in comparison with the original.

Plot

As most of you would be familiar, Nanban basically questions the role of the Indian education system in shaping a person's career and the pressure it puts on youngsters. The novelty lies in the presentation with more focus on humour and the message reaches you, without you realizing it.

Top Notch Performances

Kudos to Vijay for trusting the script and avoiding any gimmickry to please his fans. Even in his romantic ventures like Sachein and Kaavalan we had the mandatory intro song and action sequences. But Nanban is a pleasant deviation even for his hardcore fans. As Pari, he reprises the role made memorable by Aamir Khan in the original. At no point in the movie the star in him tries to outdo the actor. He is subdued even in the song sequences. One sincere hope is that Vijay does such films at more regular intervals. Srikanth and Jeeva have played their parts to perfection. Each of them has an important emotional scene in the film and they come up trumps. The induction motor scene of Jeeva is a scream. The camaraderie shared by the three lead stars is the soul of the film. That all the three actors look almost the same age is a compliment to Vijay.

Ileana makes a comeback in Tamil cinema after a while and she has done well. Surprisingly her lip sync is almost perfect. A rare feat for a heroine in Tamil cinema! She is particularly cute in the scene where she gets drunk. Part of the credit should go to Andrea who has dubbed for her. Sathyaraj is adequate as "Virus”. He particularly makes an impression in the pre-climactic scene when he comes to understand Vijay. Sathyan's role is as important as those of the lead stars and he makes it work big time. Nanban should serve as a big break for him.

Direction, Music and Technical Department

Harris Jayaraj joins Shankar after Anniyan and has delivered the goods."En Friend Pola" catches your attention immediately while "Asku Lasku" grows on you. The background score is also good. Manoj Paramahamsa's camerawork is a visual delight. As in any Shankar movie, Nanban has a strong technical team and it's prowess can be seen on screen.

Kudos to Shankar for not tinkering with the original script. He could have done away with the "Irukkaana" song though. It seems the only compromise made in the otherwise faithful remake. And what was the need to include that shot were Srikanth imagines himself getting married to Jeeva's sister. It is time filmmakers stop making fun of dark-skin. It happened in Shivaji. And it repeats in Nanban. Sorry Mr.Shankar!!! It is not in good taste.

Bottomline

We had Mankatha just a few months back with Ajith magnanimously sharing screen space with younger actors. Nanban is probably the first multi-starrer with a lot of established stars in the same frame in a long time in Tamil cinema. Hope this trend is here to stay. Apt casting makes this remake of the Hindi classic one jolly and emotional ride. If you have watched 3 idiots you will like Nanban. If you haven't you will absolutely love it.