Pavithra Srinivasan reviews the Tamil movie, Nagaram. Post YOUR reviews here!
After starring in a string of rather lewd comedies, it looks like Sundar C is back to a more serious version of one of his favourite themes: the gangster with the heart of gold who tries to save everyone around him.
And this time around, in Avni Cinemax's (wife Khushboo's home production) Nagaram (City), he dons several roles: that of hero, director and screenplay writer. He's even managed to complete some of these tasks reasonably well.
It's a relief to see him start out in something other than either a lewd, or a cinematic entrance: the first glimpse we have of him, literally, is lying on a stretcher glucose bottle dangling over him, staring longingly at the image of a child on a pharmacy's billboard.
And so we enter the murky past of Elephantgate, aka Gate Selvam (Sundar C), courtesy his usual unruly crop of hair and scraggly beard, as he arrives in city, fresh from prison, helped out by his dearest friend, Inspector Sakkarai Pandi (Bose Venkat). The man may have been a devil in the past, but now he's ready to turn over a new leaf. Problem is, no one will let him. Life gets even more complicated when he catches sight of Bharathi (Anuya), a pretty group dancer in cinema, who has her own share of problems, complete with a broken home.
Like in real life, a small incident balloons into bigger problems, as Selvam tries to balance honesty with betrayal, friends and his foes, until everything bleeds into a cat and mouse game for his survival. And bang in the middle of it is Style Pandi (Vadivel), whose comic antics sometime hit the right mark, and falters at others.
While the role itself might not be all that different, Sundar C has done his best to weed out punch dialogues, flashy fights and silly scenes in this movie most of the time. He still can't quite keep away from the random lewd overtone, but he does show that he means business. It would have worked better if he could have wrung out some expression in his face during the intense scenes. Still, it's a far better performance than what's usually expected from him.
Anuya is surprisingly not relegated to the sidelines, and does a neat job. Even the so-called kiss that raised a ruckus has been handled well, fitting with the sequence.
Vadivelu manages to skate through his scenes while the rest of the cast (comprising mostly of large villains), add the requisite depth to the proceedings.
Chelladurai's camera-work does quite a few visual acrobatics, while Thaman's music fits the bill without being obtrusive.
The endless gang war sequences, filled with unruly men can get a bit tedious, while the screenplay takes its own sweet time to get to the end. The editing scissors could have been put to good use.
Nagaram is worth a watch, just to see Sundar C in a different avatar.
Rediff Rating: 
