Imaikka Nodigal Review: Nayanthara and Anurag Kashyap shine in this fairly engaging thriller
Imaikka Nodigal starring Nayanthara, Anurag Kashyap, Atharvaa Murali and Raashi Khanna in the lead roles got released last Friday. The movie directed by ‘Demonte Colony’ fame Ajay Gnanamuthu had high expectations prior to its release. Let’s jump straight to the review to see if it has lived up to the hype.
‘A cat-and-mouse game between a psychotic killer and an investigating officer’ – This standard template has been used umpteen times in various languages, and it’s the same here as well. So there is a series of killings happening in Bengaluru city and a psychotic killer has the whole police and CBI force on their toes. They are made to stand as puppets to this killer who has a strong and very convincing motive. Anything more about the plot will end up as spoilers, so let’s put a full stop right there.
Director Ajay Gnanamuthu has done extremely well in sketching two powerful lead characters – Anjali Vikramadityan (Nayanthara) and Rudra (Anurag Kashyap). Along with the crime angle, there is also a parallel romantic track, which is nothing but pathetically cheesy with all the tropes of a boy-meets-girl-falls-in-love story. Atharvaa and Raashi Khanna try desperatley but there’s hardly anything impressive.
While the writer-director has succeeded in writing and executing the crime part, it is the romance portions where he falters big-time. Most of the Tamil movies of late have this problem, but in films like ‘Theeran: Adhigaaram Ondru’ the unwanted love track is sidelined once the core plot kick-starts. Here in Imaikka Nodigal, the narrative is structured in a non-linear way. So a bunch of interesting scenes involving Rudra and Anjali are followed by the cheesy Arjun-Kriti romance, which is a big dampener.
Coming to the performances, with Imaikka Nodigal, Nayanthara once again reiterates her position as the undisputed lady superstar of Kollywood. Her terrific screen presence is on par with her male counterparts and is a true delight to watch on-screen. Atharvaa has the looks and attitude of a guy-next-door and pulls off the action hero part quite effectively. But the real hero of the movie is unarguably Anurag Kashyap. His expressive eyes, the baritone voice and his ‘assault’ body language all makes way for one of the finest villains of recent times. Special mention to director Magizh Thirumeni who has dubbed for Kashyap’s character.
Technically, Imaikka Nodigal is slick with RD Rajasekhar’s brilliant cinematography and Hiphop Tamizha’s score. Action choreography is another highlight, but the editing could have been far better. The overlong run-time clearly hampers the engagement factor.
Overall, Imaikka Nodigal is a fairly engaging thriller with excellent performances by Kashyap and Nayanthara. If you’re willing to overlook the soppy love part and logical loopholes, this one will surely work.
