Nenjukku Neethi Movie Review

Arunraja Kamaraj’s Nenjukku Neethi is a clean and green film that sticks to what has to be done and delivers a top-quality end product, just like its original.

Being a remake of Article 15, the film comes across as one man’s upmanship against the caste discrimination issues and the system that supports it time and again. The film understands the core idea of Article 15 and builds its own version that gives it a lot more clarity, despite going easy on the nuance.

Arunraja Kamaraj has done his homework without entirely relying on Anubhav Sinha’s script of the film. The director does the right amount of localization, understands the depth required for the characters and places his turns accordingly. There is a breath of fresh air in the film, which never feels too familiar and has something going for it at all times. And Arunraja is superbly aided by Tamizharasan Pachamuthu’s dialogues which are razor sharp at all times and come at us like flamethrowers. The first half of the film is superbly executed with the right amount of intensity but there are a few avoidable lags in the second half which affect the overall flow of the film. Nevertheless, Arunraja packs his narrative with a well-driven climax sequence that brings up the highs again.

Udhaynidhi Stalin delivers a convincing and measured performance as Vijayaraghavan, a cop who leaves no stone unturned to get the job done. The actor looks much more confident in this serious film which gives him punchy situations and sharp dialogues to enact, which he does with full force.

The surprise package here turns out to be Suresh Chakravarthi of Bigg Boss fame, who gets a tough nut to crack but does it with great conviction. This is a pleasant surprise from the actor who is set for many more good roles hereon. Nenjukku Neethi also has a very good supporting cast otherwise which has names such as Tanya Ravichandran, Shivani Rajasekhar and Ilavarasu. Aari Arjunan overdoes his role and is the only sore thumb in the entire list.

Nenjukku Neethi is visually brilliant with Dinesh Krishnan’s superb visuals adding to the flavour of the film. In both the day and night shots, Dinesh’s work is supreme with the camera placements and the angles bringing in top-class visuals. The aesthetics of the film go one step higher with Dhibu Ninan Thomas’ music, which is another big asset to the film. The composer’s re-recording work is to the point with BGM cues that keep amplifying the weight of the proceedings.

On the whole, Nenjukku Neethi turns out to be a film of high quality that is definitely worth watching on the big screen. It has been a while since a film in this genre has impressed this much.  Nenjukku Neethi Movie Review by Siddarth Srinivas

Nenjukku Neethi Movie Review Rating: 3.5/5