NATCHATHIRAM NAGARGIRADHU (2022)

October 09, 2022

Critic No. 290

Director: Pa Ranjith

Written by: Pa Ranjith

Produced by: Yaazhi Films, Neelam Productions

Casts: Kalidas Jayaram, Dushara Vijayan, Kalaiyarasan, Sindhuja Viji, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Hari Krishnan Anbudurai

Music: A.R.Rahman

Language: Tamil

Genre: Drama, Romance

SYNOPSIS:

As a motley theatre troupe sets out to stage a play about love, the drama reaches new heights as attitudes around sexuality and castes begin to clash.

REVIEW:

Pa Ranjith shows much boldness when it comes to nail his voice against the caste system and the injustice that follows through because of that. He cleverly weaves in his perspective and thoughts in his mainstream films. However, Natchathiram Nagargiradhu, feels like Pa Ranjith’s return to experimental filmmaking after his debut film, Attakathi (2012). In this film, Ranjith doesn’t only talk about caste, he also tackles on the prejudices on the form of love.

Ranjith crafts his messages by using the backdrop of a theater group in Pondicherry, which decides to stage a new play that will be about love and the politicization of it. There are love stories being played out within this group, too. There is Rene (Dushara), who has broken up with Iniyian (Kalidas Jayaram), whose remark implying her caste is one of the many cracks she has chosen to use to make herself stronger. There is Arjun (Kalaiyarasan), a conservative, small-town guy with movie-star dreams and views shaped by movies, who gets attracted to Rene, even though he is engaged to Roshini, a girl his family has decided to marry him to. We see the film through his perspective as well as he navigates his way through the diverse group.

And then, there is Sekar, a middle-aged guy, trying to win over the heart of Merlin, a French girl, who is at least half his age. There is Sylvia, a transwoman, who has managed to find a man who loves her in Joel. There is a lesbian couple who are open about their relationship, a gay couple who are still figuring things out, a married man who is on a long-distance relationship. From just this list of things, you can see how many issues Ranjith is trying to address. Does he succeed in balancing off all the issues equally? Not really. The caste issues are more prevalent as usual but kudos to him for creating such intriguing characters and conflicts that sometimes affect us and sometimes shock us.

Despite being a film about love, at no point does Ranjith goes for the GVM style of romanticizing it. The Rene-Iniyan track which I liked the most, is presented in a matter-of-fact manner. There is no meet-cute and all here, but an intimate conversation under the stars that informs on their perspective of life— Iniyan is fascinated by Rene's views on life while she sees the toxicity in him. Real, raw and straight to the point. Maybe that’s why it clicks. Though Dushara’s character feels like trying hard to be cool, the issues she narrates on how castesits have oppressed her since childhood is powerful. Other romantic tracks are okay as well but due to the runtime there’s not much depth we see in them.

The cinematography by Kishor Kumar helps Ranjith to treat his film like a moving painting with the camera gliding along with the characters facing their fears and conflicts. Selva RK's editing, too, matches this approach, letting the scenes stay just a beat longer that keeps the pace quite fluid. Tenma’s music compliments the westernized treatment Ranjith is going for and the songs hit our souls directly. A definite talent to watch out for!

Though you are thankful for the genuinely the film has, the entire third act feels like a different movie entirely with the introduction of the antagonist (symbolically positioned as the political/social voice against the revolutionary view the film and the characters are trying to convey). There is not much foreshadowing for this through terrifically acted by Shabeer (Dancing Rose fame). Performance wise, tthe bunch of new actors are all quite effective and brings us closer to the film by their 'non-actor' vibes. Out of the leads and the seasoned ones, I liked Dushara who brings out the conflicted character quite well while Kalaiayarasan delivers one his best performances in his career by donning the deepest character in the film.

Overall, it is great to see Ranjith going back to his roots and making a small film that is big in heart and view. Natchathiram Nagargiradhu might not be a cup of tea of many but if you are looking for a film that makes you think and reflect about a few social issues, go for it!