I have to admit that I watched Nanban with my own reservations as to how much the film will do justice to original ‘3 Idiots’. I don’t think anyone, barring the most diehard delusional Vijay fans, would have expected Nanban to be a product on par or even better than what ‘3 Idiots’ was. I have to say however, after watching the film, I came out pleasantly surprised. But that doesn’t mean I was proved wrong either- the things I had expected to be downgraded from the original did exist here as well.
I don’t have to repeat the movie’s plot here- it has been written all over the net thanks to 3 Idiots, so I will get into the fine details of the movie.
Performances:
Vijay really, really does come up trumps in his role. The new ‘All is Well’ signage was a trademark throughout and it is pleasant to someone that many thought had forgotten how to ‘act’ had finally showed that he can carry an entire film like this with his charisma alone. Yes, he did do the impossible- Nanban relied heavily on his charisma and his confidence, and he did so with aplomb. He portrayed emotions, cracked jokes, and made some scenes even funnier than they were in 3 Idiots. I’m not going to compare his performance to that of Aamir Khan, as I believe both have carried the film with their own distinct capacities. But like I said, Nanban relied heavily on Vijay’s charisma, and unfortunately I have to blame that on the inefficiency of the supporting cast. With the exception of a few scenes, Srikanth never quite brings the shine to his character and instead looks like a sidekick for Vijay. His narrative voice too was rather platonic as compared to Madhavan’s self-parody style of narration. Maddy’s shoes were a big one to fill and Srikanth really did look like a B-class actor trying to do an A-class role. Why, the very first flight scene was enough to tell audiences that Srikanth was no Madhavan. Jiiva, on the other hand, doesn’t quite bring out Sharman Joshi’s ‘fear’ in the original. His character was supposed to be a chicken, quite literally, but Jiiva doesn’t quite bring that nuance of his performance. But he does make it up by providing great aid to Vijay in comedic moments. He comic timing with Vijay makes them a great pair on screen.
Illeana looks beautiful- and that’s about it. She mouths her dialogues in a pedestrian manner and never quite brings out the Ria that was immortalized by Kareena Kapoor. Yes, she does look stunning. She has two duets with Vijay- gets to ballet dance and flaunt her curves, but that’s about where it ends. I was more impressed with Andrea Jeremiah’s impeccable voice over during the drinking scene. And it’s beyond me why Andrea wasn’t chosen for the role. If that’s what you expect from a female lead, you’ll be happy. But if you want to know the real bubbly character called Ria that you can easily fall in love with- watch 3 Idiots.
Satyaraj is the show-stealer. He is brilliant as Virumandi Sandanam, the cocky disciplinarian principle and matched Boman Irani’s ‘Virus’. Similarly, Satyan surprised me and does a decent job as ‘Silencer’.
Music:
Harris Jeyaraj should be sacked and banished. Period. I heard some atrocious BGMs in 7aam Arivu and he almost ruined the experience here with some shoddy BGM works early in the movie. BGM at some parts were too loud that it overshadowed dialogues, a glaring basic schoolboy error. The songs are absolutely nothing if compared to 3 Idiots. All izz Well doesn’t have the same pep- while songs such as Behtein Hawa, Give me Some Sunshine, and Jaane Nahi Denge were all composed with such half-heartedness as if Harris knew he could never reach the original. My advice to Shankar- please go for GV Prakash if AR Rahman’s dates are unavailable.
Dialogues and direction:
I thought the classic speech scene from the original could never be replicated. But hats off to Karky and Shankar for managing to do so, inducing laughter from the whole theater. Even in clean Tamil, it sounds just as funny. There are plenty of such moments that deserve applause in the movie- mainly because the dialogues were reproduced in Tamil with the same amount of wits and intelligence.
Of course, the ‘Taufa Kabul Kaaro’ was not as funny as the original, but heck, the most of the movie leaves you on a positive high, several downs here and there are excusable. I do not agree with Shankar’s justification of adding another song to the movie, especially when it’s a romantic song. With the movie over three hours in length, the song is an absolute speed breaker, and cuts off the momentum of the movie. Otherwise, the whole movie is like a tribute to the original. There’s no grand entry for Vijay, everything was directed in the same way the Hindi version of the movie was directed.
My verdict? All is Well with Nanban. It does have its flaws but the overall experience that the movie provides is almost on par with 3 Idiots, its only the fine details that gets missed out here and there. Go for it without a second’s hesitation. You’ll have a good laugh, and a feeling well worth of your admission price.
Rating: 8.5/10
