Review: Neethanae en Ponvasantham

Movie- Neethanae en Ponvasantham- நீதானே என் பொன்வசந்தம்...

Language- Tamil

Genre- Romance

Director- Gautam Vasudeva Menon

Cast- Jiiva, Samantha, Santhanam and others.

Ok I want to clarify few things before I proceed on with my review

1.     If you have already watched the movie and you wanted to read my take on NEP- please proceed to Section-1.

2.       If you intend to watch the movie after reading my review
                         a.       If you are a Samantha Fan- Please proceed to Section-2.
                         b.      If you are in love- Please proceed to Section-3.
                         c.       If your friends are in love- Please proceed to Section-4.
                         d.      If you are planning to fall in Love- Please proceed to Section-5.
                         e.      None of these- Please Proceed to Section-6.

3.       You have booked for the movie and you came across my review- Please proceed to Section-7.

4.         If you intend to catch it in thirutu (Pirated) DVD-Please proceed to Section-8.

5.       None of the above- Please proceed to Section-9.

Hopefully my dear reader, you fall into some category mentioned above. Ok at least decide which route you are going to take. All the best! (Not for the movie of course!).

Section-1:

Welcome to my take on the movie. Since you are here it means that you have already seen the movie and fuming inside how Gautam could take such a horrible one. Please cool down a little before proceeding any further.

I have taken a neutral stand and also it is my take on the movie so please don’t complain.

Let’s not get into what is good in the movie; I am going to say probably what could have gone wrong. If you think the movie is good, then either you are in love or else out of love. For others it is a torment of 2 and half hours? (Except for Santhanam).

Only if you had been or seen somebody else (especially your friends) you would know that what portrayed in the movie was actually true. People truly behave that way (well most of the times!). This movie is thus a real take on love between two people and it is shown that way from their perspective. There was nothing cinematic about it other than the songs. It is certainly difficult to take such a kind of movie and only a few succeed (Like Vinnai thandi Varuvaya). Hence it is wrong to bash GVM for this debacle, if you don’t like the movie means it is not a bad one. Better say that I don’t like the movie rather than complaining that movie is not good, that is seriously undermining the movie and it will portray a different picture to others.

Is it a perfect movie? No it is not a perfect movie (and please don’t compare it with VTV!). It is difficult being in love; it is hard to hear love stories of our friends. What if we are shown a love story of two unknown people, yes it was rather difficult to watch their story unfold slowly onscreen. Unlike action movies love stories cannot be taken bang, bang, therefore we have no option but to sit through it. This may be the case for many of you, because after sometime you would have felt restless and wanted the movie to end quickly. According to me, ending was good, and this would have happened even in reality.

It could have been taken more interestingly. Probably the long conversation between the lovers would have given you headache (there was some stupid camera angle shot just before the interval! Don’t know what GVM was thinking by using a long shot!). And another thing which added to the disadvantage for the movie is its background score.

My god, never I have cursed like this before. It was so loud and jarring, it gave me nightmares when ever that girl in the background started to wail in high pitch voice. It could have been more subtle, we know what Nithya is undergoing, it was unnecessary to use loud instruments (drums!) and that wailing noise. Sadly this makes even some good scenes rather bad. More peaceful instruments could have been employed. Only if this had been changed, may be your perspective of the movie would change (would have loved if ARR had been in this project, am still mesmerized with VTV’s BGM!).

So my conclusion, it is seriously a good movie. Yes it does have its own flaws, but every movie has them, none is perfect. It could have been made much better, but anyways stop cribbing that it is bad movie.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-2:

One more reminder, you are here because you are a big time Sam(antha) fan. I say you are wasting your time here. You need not know about the story, or even whether the movie is good or bad. What you need to know is one thing… how was Sam?

She is in her most gorgeous avatar till now. She is absolutely adorable, cute, and what not. Man she was a stunner, and no doubt you will fall in love with her again and again. Her costumes are beautiful and add on to Sam’s cuteness.  She is an angel. You may complain the scenes when she cries, but it is alright, we can overlook them.

Some (seriously good for nothing!) people may argue that why spend money to see HER, rather watch her picture for absolutely free for two hours, and we know the difference between seeing a picture of biriyani and eating one in its full glory (especially in a Muslim friend marriage!), hope you know what I mean. Some people will never understand our (me being one of Sam’s huge fan!) feelings though.  

Go watch it, for Sam and for her alone. That beautiful, cute and stunning goddess.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-3:

Since you are in love (and hopefully you are above 18 years…) you may relate many scenes with your love. The fights, the mid-night talks, the romance, night outs, celebrations, the long drives, and of course the pain. These are shown almost realistically.

This section might also apply to you if you had been previously in love too. It will be nostalgic journey. The school scenes have come out wonderfully. Both Jiiva and Sam look cute, and pass of as school students. You might be reminded of your first crush in school (if not then there is something seriously wrong with you). Some scenes are truly romantic, especially loved Ennodu va va and Sainthu Sainthu songs.

It could have been your love story or even could be. The essence of romance has come out very well. You will definitely enjoy this movie. Though the movie has some lags and in some places dragging and long. Since you have been there, or still there, what shown in the movie is just a slice of what actually happens. So I guess you might rather enjoy these scenes than complain about them.

And please do not expect it to be in league of VTV. But is not that bad, as others claim it is. Whatever others tell, or I might say, it is your call. Personally since you are reading this section, I recommend you watching this one. You can certainly relate to many sequences.  

All the best for your love. May you two live happily forever and after.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-4:

My friend, we are the doomed beings who need to undergo (most of the time!) the torment of listening to the love life of our buddies. And most of us would have become a love guru by now, advising our friends and guiding him/her in their love. So what has NEP in store for you?

Do we need to hear problems of another pair of lovers whom we don’t even know, that too on the big screen.  You might hate to sit through another grueling, slow torture even though it has Illayaraja’s music as saving grace.

Well there is nothing new in NEP we have not seen. We would have definitely met Varun and Nithya in some place during the course of our life. It has nothing much to offer. And since you are not that much big fan of Samantha, it would a walk in hell for you. One more thing if your friend has booked tickets for you and you have no other option but to watch it, better convert now to a Samantha fan. If not, then there is no one to save you.

Santhanam’s sequence and his one liners are good but the problem is that, he disappears mid-way and appears only in the second half that too with a pathetic intro spoof on VTV.

No kuthu songs, no fight, no masala. Well it might not be your cup of tea, but I may still be wrong.

I still don’t call this a bad movie at all.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-5:

I seriously don’t know what your plan is (about falling in love!), but it may take a back seat if you watch this movie. Yes! most girls are like either Jessy or Nithya. You might take a lifetime in identifying what they are thinking. And this movie provides no insight into a girls mind. You might very well get confused more.

Better not watch it for inspiration for falling in love; it might lead you to take a completely opposite path. One personal advice if you don’t mind, each girl is unique (ovoru ponnukum oru feeling machi!)  And don’t follow movies for expressing your love, do something different, may be your story will be made into movie one day.

As a movie if you want to watch this you can very well go to next section and read about it.

All the best my friend. Hopefully you get what you desired for.

Section-6:

Since you fall into none of the category and you fall into the group which watches the movies for the movies sake.

Here goes the review of the movie for you.

NEP was overly hyped from the beginning, and over hype is not good for a normal movie. Moreover people start comparing it with the earlier movie of GVM the awesome VTV. So it is normal to hear negative review at first, and let that not be your final decision about this movie. It is not as bad as they claim it to be.

It is a simple and straightforward love story. Varun (Jiiva) and Nithya (Samantha) are buddies from childhood, but circumstances separate them. They meet once again in a tuition center during their 10^th standard. And their love blossoms and grows during 11^th class and abruptly breaks due to some ego issue. After 3 yrs Varun gets to meet Nithya at college cultural, and once again the old spark turns into a flame. They romance, talk, celebrate etc. Varun being a boy from middle class family suddenly learns of his responsibilities.  He chooses his family over Nithya. After getting settled (takes 3 yrs) once again pursues Nithya, who has now a life of her own, once again they fight. Varun decides to marry another girl. So did Varun marry the other girl, what happens to Nithya, what happens to Varun-Nithya equation? Forms rest of the story.

Jiiva is rock solid and looks handsome. Also passes off as a school student. His performance and dialogue delivery is good. Samantha has given a stunning performance. She is the protagonist and the story revolves around her. She looks gorgeous and with some wonderful costumes looks quite adorable. She has dubbed her own voice, it was good, and she made no mistake in Tamil. Way to go girl. Other roles include that of Santhanam (Prakash) and Vidyulekha (Jenny). They are apt for their role. Santhanam’s one liners evoke laughter in the first half, and he has not much role in the second.

Illayaraja’s music is a plus. But the rerecording and BGM are not good to the ears. Most of the time it is jarring and a woman wails at the back in the crying sequence, it is unbearable. Gautam I think has went on the lines of making a musical, but sadly that attempt falls flat, it was too loud and distracting. It made even some good sequence look bad.

GVM could have made some attempt to make it more interesting. Yes I agree that it is a difficult region to tread as, interesting would make it more cinematic, the problem is that more realistic it is, more bore it becomes. Many of you may find this movie long and boring, well that path was taken by GVM for telling his story. Being long and boring does not mean it is bad; it is just that, being so close to reality, the dialogues tend to get repeated, we get frustrated at the leads Varun and Nithya when they behave stupidly, well it actually what happens in reality. 

The intro sequence in the college is good, other than that; most of them deal with love life of Varun and Nithya. Cinematography was good. Showed gorgeous Samantha even more beautifully. Some scenes were good, and nothing special about it, didn’t know what they were thinking in the scene before the interval, it was stupid and irritating. Little more trimming could have been done by the editing department. Overall it was fine.

So, though the movie has its own pitfalls, it is not that bad. You can very well catch it in theatres. You might either like it or not like it. I have said all I can; it is up to you now.

You can directly proceed to Section-10 which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-7:

I know the dilemma you are in. You are getting mixed reviews from everywhere and you don’t know what to do, moreover you can’t do anything right now as you are caught in between. Don’t worry my friend, do read the above Section to get know about the movie. And rest assured, the movie is not bad as many claim it to be.

Section-8:

Since you have more time at hand, read all other sections and decide which category you fall into. Best of luck!

Section-9:

I don’t know why you are here (even you don’t know). Close your eyes and think. Please do answer the following question…

1.       Is your name Sanjay Ramasamy

2.       You don’t know who Sanjay Ramasamy is

If you choose 1: Please see the photograph for what to do next.

If you choose 2: Please watch Ghajini (Tamil version) once again. You may be suffering from short term memory ass.

You can directly proceed to Next section which would properly bid farewell to you.

Section-10:

GOOD BYE AND FARE WELL, all those love birds, broken up hearts, would be lovers, Samantha fans (Jiiva fans too!), Time killers, friend helpers, nosy pricks, tasteless idiots, senseless morons, Good fellas, Gangstas, Pirates, terrorists, accused , Einsteins, Newtons, phytoplanktons, would be politicians, next CM-PM, my ex- girl friends, my would be girl friends, Samantha if you are reading this, GVM if you too come across this, my college buddies, my proof reader, Obama, Manmohan, Sonia, MJ if you read this from heaven and you Mr.Sanjay Ramasamy and to all other people the blacks, the whites, the browns, the Chinese etc. etc. etc.

Love All! Peace! <3 <3 <3

P.S- if you are offended by any of the above mentioned, feel free to forget it soon.

P.P.S- I would highly recommend you could leave some comment for me (Not only comments, good tasty baked cakes, sweets are more welcome to celebrate this holiday season! Cheers!).