Director: Selvaraghavan
Cast: SJ Suryah, Nandita Swetha, Regina Cassandra
No Selvaraghavan film is ever a ‘normal’ film. Nenjam Marappathillai (streaming on Zee5) is his first attempt at a ‘paranormal’ film! Yes, Selva’s films blow hot and cold at the box office. He’s had his share of hits and misses. More recently, NGK was a prominent let-down given the hype. But having said all this, there’s no other filmmaker who’s as sincere in his commitment to ingenuity as Selva. Even NGK surprised many ardent fans with a twist in its narrative. While it was positioned as a political thriller, its focus on grassroots politics was a refreshing take on a typically ‘larger than life’ genre.
To set some context, Nenjam..’s filming was actually completed in 2016 itself and the movie has finally now seen the light of day in 2021. It’s a credit to the director that the film doesn’t feel dated. At first glance, the plot itself is nothing you haven’t seen before in this genre. There’s a ghost with a tragic back story and the ghost seeks vengeance against the antagonists. But true to his principles, Selva makes a solid attempt to re-invent the wheel. He’s tried to fit this story into an interesting sub-genre, or should I say sub-sub-genre!
Within the horror space, we’re all now familiar with the ‘horror-comedy’ sub-genre. Selvaraghavan has made some adjustments to this and come out with a ‘horror-dark comedy’ template. Nenjam Marappathillai’s story is damning, but the narration is also often delightfully funny. It all starts with SJ Suryah’s character Ramaswamy, who hilariously calls himself Ramsay.
On first impression, it would seem that Ramsay leads a model life. A loving wife (Swetha played by Nandita), a toddler, a swanky house and an enviably profitable business-Ramsay could hardly complain. But we quickly realize how falsified this is. The first cracks appear when Ramsay and Swetha appoint Mariam (Regina Cassandra) as their baby sitter. We soon see Ramsay’s real face. Ramsay is a serial pervert who now has his sights set on Mariam. He tries to assault her on at least two occasions and finally, on a day when his wife is away, rapes and kills Mariam along with his cronies. Mariam comes back as a spirit to avenge her death. The rest of the film follows this revenge saga and you could easily imagine how it would all transpire.
Like I mentioned earlier, the story idea isn’t new. But Nenjam Marappathillai works splendidly nevertheless. It’s all down to Selvaraghavan’s stylistic imprint. The images are surreal, blazing with colour, and almost psychedelic. Actually, there’s a suggestion that Ramsay might have a regular drug habit. Though this isn’t stated explicitly, Selva’s trusted cinematographer Arvind Krishna uses innovative ‘POV’ shots, where we see the world through Ramsay’s eyes, to convey this. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s raging score combines with these images to terrific effect and we end up with a unique film viewing experience that’s striking and visceral.
The comedy is one of the strongest points and holds the film together. Ramsey’s smattering of English is rib-tickling from start to finish. The one scene towards the end where after a gory murder he remarks with a poker face that ‘shit happens’ really had me in splits! Probably the best sequence of the lot is where Ramsey and his cronies are called to the police station to prove their alibis. This scene is completely turned on its head by Selva in a stroke of genius and the creative lies Ramsay and co come up with are stitched together into a hilariously addictive song sequence!
The acting across the board is top notch. SJ Suryah comes out with a now familiar stellar performance and owns the role of Ramsay. I can’t think of another actor who might have played it better. Regina Cassandra is sincere in her portrayal of Mariam, but the surprise package is Nandita, who rocks with her rendering of the complex Swetha character.
Nenjam Marappathillai is an outstanding return to form for Selvaraghavan. It is wholesome and its treatment provides new, exciting insights into a familiar genre. The box office might not always be Selvaraghavan’s best friend, but we hope he continues his experimental streak. In an industry that embraces formulae and templates, Selva is truly ‘Ayirathil Oruvan’!
Rating: 3/5
