Nepali, the latest movie of self-proclaimed "Chinna Thalabathi"(how many Thalabathis do we really need) Barath comes out as a feebly fine attempt by director V.Z.Durai in terms of film-making, which could have been made much better. The movie is a love story in the guise of a thriller. The director has attempted to use non-linear story-telling to make the plot seem more interesting, but has failed miserably in it. The screenplay has three elements to it, one in the present(Nepali Barath's mysterious killings), one in the past(a youthful Barath and Meera Jasmine's love track) and another in the middle(jail sequences where Barath is a jail inmate with a Nepali man). The three tracks are interwoven in so haphazard a manner that you begin to lose interest pretty soon(the music score indicating track-shifting becomes annoying). When such non-linear style is used, the director/editor needs to make sure the element of suspense(if any) is maintained. But in Nepali, the turn of events is very predictable and the mixing pretty messy.
One other thing that's very evident in the movie is that the director has watched several Hollywood movies whose inspiration can be seen at several places. Memento, A Clockwork Orange, Enemy at the gates, to name a few. Even the music director, Srikanth Deva has been heavily inspired by Hollywood and Bollywood alike. Like father, like son.
Barath and Meera have both done their parts well. But Barath does a Salman Khan too often in the songs, just because he's improved his build. Meera looks ideal for the role, though her character seems foolish at many places in the movie. No one specifically stands out in the rest of the cast, maybe because of very limited roles. The sex-crazy police inspector makes you wanna puke. When movies like Kaakha Kaakha, Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu, Kireedam and perhaps even Marudhamalai(with all due respect to Arjun) are made, it is appalling to see the police department shown in such bad light. Even Prem, as the investigating officer fails to impress really. He could perhaps return to Jodi no. 1 Season 4.
Considering that this is the debut of director V.Z.Durai, his effort should be lauded for producing watchable fare told in good cinematic style. In the line of Ramana, Manmadhan, Anniyan, etc, Nepali is another movie with a good message to unpunished criminals. My only hope is that there is not a sequel called Bhutani.
One other thing that's very evident in the movie is that the director has watched several Hollywood movies whose inspiration can be seen at several places. Memento, A Clockwork Orange, Enemy at the gates, to name a few. Even the music director, Srikanth Deva has been heavily inspired by Hollywood and Bollywood alike. Like father, like son.
Barath and Meera have both done their parts well. But Barath does a Salman Khan too often in the songs, just because he's improved his build. Meera looks ideal for the role, though her character seems foolish at many places in the movie. No one specifically stands out in the rest of the cast, maybe because of very limited roles. The sex-crazy police inspector makes you wanna puke. When movies like Kaakha Kaakha, Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu, Kireedam and perhaps even Marudhamalai(with all due respect to Arjun) are made, it is appalling to see the police department shown in such bad light. Even Prem, as the investigating officer fails to impress really. He could perhaps return to Jodi no. 1 Season 4.
Considering that this is the debut of director V.Z.Durai, his effort should be lauded for producing watchable fare told in good cinematic style. In the line of Ramana, Manmadhan, Anniyan, etc, Nepali is another movie with a good message to unpunished criminals. My only hope is that there is not a sequel called Bhutani.
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