Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam movie review: This Dhanush-directorial is a regular Gen Z rom-com

Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam movie review: He is undoubtedly talented as an actor and has proved himself as a director in his two previous outings, Pa Paandi and Raayan. In Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobum (NEEK), Dhanush veers into new territory - a Gen Z romantic comedy with newcomers. (Also Read: Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam trailer: Dhanush directs a ‘usual’ love story with a twist. Watch)

The Thiruchitrambalam star introduces his nephew, Pavish in this movie, along with others, including Anikha Surendran, Mathew Thomas, Rabiya Khatoon, Venkatesh Menon and Priya Prakash Varrier.

NEEK story

The audience is first introduced to Prabhu (Pavish), a middle-class boy who’s a chef in training, who is swigging a drink and singing about love, failure and a broken heart. His parents (Aadukalam Naren and Saranya Ponnvannan) tell him to snap out of his depression and get a life. They decide to get him married. It’s when he meets his former classmate Preethi (Priya Prakash Varrier) as a potential bride that the backstory of his broken heart unfolds.

We learn about his love story with rich girl Nila (Anikha Surendran), a huge foodie, and what led to their romance and break up as he narrates the episode to Preethi. Preethi advises him to attend Nila’s marriage and see if he’s gotten over her in order for their relationship to move forward. Through all this, it is his parents and best friend Rajesh (Mathew Thomas) who help him navigate his life. Has Prabhu moved on from Nila? Do Preethi and he get married? Does love triumph?

NEEK review

As an actor, Dhanush has always experimented when it comes to roles, but he is also proving experimental as a director. For his third directorial outing, he has chosen to write a Gen Z love story where a poor boy meets a rich girl with all the mandatory ingredients - plenty of parties, drinking, cheating on girlfriends, break-ups and make-ups, love failure and depression, social media and so on.

The fact that he has brought in apt newcomers to essay the group of 20-year-olds lends the film a freshness as the story is regular fare interspersed with snippets of comedy and drama. The actors are appropriate given their age, and their acting engages the audience in a believable way. Each one essays the traits of Gen Z kids today - Prabhu is driven and wants to be a successful chef; some are confused about life, some are playful about love, etc.

Dhanush draws from his own experience

One wonders whether Dhanush’s use of aspects from his personal and professional life was a deliberate move to make NEEK more meaningful. There are hat-tips to Sivaji Ganesan, Ilaiyaraaja and AR Rahman in the film as well as to his own films and life.

Interestingly, one sees a lot of Dhanush in Pavish, his nephew. Even Prabhu’s character has some shades of Dhanush’s earlier roles (numerous, in fact), and with his acting style, one feels Pavish takes after his uncle in many ways. Whether Pavish can ace the roles he gets in the future, like his uncle, remains to be seen. For a debutant, Pavish has done a good job delivering what is required - his acting is not over-the-top, and his chemistry with his parents and friends plays out well on screen.

The girls are cute in the film, and while Anikha has a strong emotional component, Venkatesh Menon comes in as comic relief. However, Mathew Thomas is the one who holds this group together with an incongruous presence and stands out in the crowd. This story celebrates romance as much as it does that one visible yet invisible friend who sees you through everything and makes things happen effortlessly for you.

In conclusion

The music and songs by GV Prakash are apt for this movie, and some of the song picturizations, like Yedi, remind us of Dhanush’s earlier songs. DOP Leon Britto’s camera work is also in tandem with the young Gen Z theme. All in all, Dhanush’s NEEK is an engaging time-pass film that Gen Z will absolutely relate to.