Nenjamundu Nermaiyundu Odu Raja movie review: A stretched version of YouTube parodies

Direction: Karthik Venugopalan

Cast: Rio Raj, Vigneshkanth, Shirin Kanchanwala, Radha Ravi, Najil Sampath

NNOR had a lot of pre-release buzz as it is the second production venture of Sivakarthikeyan, who earlier bankrolled a brilliant flick Kanaa. With prominent YouTube stars helming the project, does NNOR live up to the expectations?

Shiva (Rio Raj) and Vicky (Vigneshkanth) are aspiring YouTube guys who want to become rich in a short span. And when they get a chance to realize their dream through a powerful businessman (Radha Ravi), they just grab the opportunity. Of course, the duo agrees to accomplish a set of tasks laid out by the businessman. Although they seemed tough, the compensation was huge and hence motivation wasn’t a problem. Whether they manage to complete the assigned job forms the rest of the film. The impact it had on their lives is a big part of it.

Rio who has a huge female fan following on television makes his debut on the silver screen and has given an impressive performance. He is very natural. Vigneshkanth proves as an effective foil to him. The chemistry between them works to some extent. But the romantic portions (involving Shirin Kanchwala) lacks luster and do not gel with the story. Radha Ravi has been aptly cast and he proves his versatility. There are many characters like Ram Nishanth, Chutti Arvanid etc. walking in and out of every scene, but there’s no proper character arc for anyone.   

The first half is slow without a sound script and the director has heavily relied on humour, which didn’t work all the time. The film touches upon socio-political issues of recent times including political heirs, farmers protest at Delhi, vote for money, Katchatheevu issue, Neet Anita, #MeToo movement, Nungambakkam Swathy murder, and Thootukudi police firing in a satirical manner. The climax is a bit of message oriented.  The songs are forgettable. One wished that Karthik Venugopal had worked more on the script and presentation, which otherwise looks like watching an extended version of YouTube parodies.