Natpadhikaaram 79 movie review: A clean chapter on young friendship
Director: Ravichandran
Cast: Raj Bharath, Tejaswi Madivada, Reshmi Menon, Amjad Khan
Ravichandran, who is known for his romantic breezy films is back after a long hiatus and this time around he has taken friendship and love which are the most favorite themes of filmmakers over years for his current titled Natpadhikaarm 79, a chapter on friendship from Tamil world literary piece Thirukkural.
Jeeva (Raj Bharath) is a marine engineering graduate and is particular that he pursues a job in Navy. He hangs around with his group of friends and one day, he chances upon Pooja (Tejaswi Madivada) an affluent girl who runs an event management company with her friends. It was love at first sight for both of them. Then there is this forward thinking Aravindh (Amjad Khan), a MBA student whose father works in the UK. He has a girl friend Maha (Reshmi Menon) a dancer who belongs to an orthodox Brahmin family. She has a doting dad (MS Bhaskar). The two pairs catch upon casually at a get-together and they become friends at once.
When Jeeva realizes that he was Aravindh’s senior in their college, he develops a deep friendship with the latter. Soon they become so intimate, that they hang around together everywhere. When Aravindh gets a call from his father that he was framed in a case, he rushes to catch a flight to London, without even informing Maha who has been waiting at the registrar office on his instructions. All hell breaks loose at Maha’s place with her father suffering from a heart attack. Meanwhile, there’s a misunderstanding between Jeeva and Pooja and the former leaves for Mumbai to join the navy. Things go topsy-turvy as circumstances put Jeeva and Maha in a predicament and how finally the couples unite clearing the misgivings forms the rest.
Raj Bharath looks handsome and is aptly cast. He delivers the right expressions and scores in a solid character. Tejaswi shows lot of promise with her ultra modern role. She carries herself well in highly glamorous outfits. Amjad and Reshmi are adequate. MS Bhaskar and Subbu Panju lend their support. Ravichandran has weaved a breezy tale of romance in contemporary times and friendship. He should be lauded from steer clearing away from double entendres in the form of silly comedy and clichéd kutthu numbers. It’s the linear pattern of narration without any twists and turns make it tedious at times. Also the sedate pace with repeated scenes in the first half drags the proceedings.
Gurudev’s visuals are eye catchy and Deepak Nilambur’s music is in sink with the script. Couple of songs is hummable. There are logical loopholes, which raise many questions. Why the families fix the engagement of Jeeva and Maha without even informing the concerned people, why Aravind fails to inform Maha about his sudden travel to London at the crucial juncture? Nevertheless, Ravi has made an honest attempt to come up with a clean film which will go well with the youth of today.
