Language: Tamil
Netrikann — Nayanthara’s latest outing, directed by Milind Rau — begins with a woman typing on her phone frantically while driving down the middle of a highway. If that doesn’t give you some anxiety right there, I don’t know if the rest of the film will. Because from there, it is a rather plain affair.
Netrikann is the story of Durga, an ex-CBI agent on disability support after losing her eyesight in a road accident. One day, she falls prey to a sexual predator who kidnaps and violates young women. Even though she escapes by a whisker, she becomes determined to catch him and bring him to justice. How she does this makes the rest of the film.
For a thriller, Netrikann offers few surprises. We know within the first few minutes that the villain is a psychopath; and the unusual trio of a visually impaired woman, a derided cop, and a nonchalant youth will get him in the end. The ‘thrill’ should have been in the how, but those are few and far between. The simplest of questions, some cajoling of witnesses, an undercover operation, a WhatsApp group message and voila! The kidnapper is in custody.
Despite its simplicity, Netrikann is rather engaging. Within the first few minutes, we learn rather casually that Durga is a CBI agent. I was expecting a flashback, showing her in training, as the top of her batch, sharpshooter, President medal, saluting the flag and so on. None came. This is not the kind of film that spoon-feeds you, it expects you to get it and get along.
So, without much fanfare, the film gets to the crime and investigation. The interval block is gripping, even if predictable, it keeps us hooked to Durga’s side. The sequence where Durga pretends not to be visually impaired is clever. The climactic fight deftly straddles dramatic flair and realistic possibility.
The best part of the film, for me, however, was that right till the end, Durga never loses her vulnerability. Every time there is a ‘mass’ moment for Nayanthara, it’s quickly followed by a grounding event for Durga.
For instance, after the threatening punch dialogue — which was also used in the trailer — she struggles to find the doorknob. The film is clear that she is observant, not a superwoman.
Nayanthara too appears more comfortable in her vulnerability than in her superstardom. The interaction between her and the villain inside the police station, which is meant to be her superstar moment, feels forced with Nayanthara reaching to her deepest darkest robotic self while speaking those lines. But her struggle with self-loathing and self-pity comes through more meaningfully, even humanely, if you will.
Manikandan is excellent as the derided cop with a heart of gold, also called Manikandan in the film. He embodies the self-awareness and desperation that’s needed to play that character, without getting dramatic about it. We see him begging, pleading and wheedling his superiors to help him. Even when completely let down by his boss, all he can muster is, “po ya” (a rather respectful way of saying “get lost”). It is his earnestness that makes the comedy portions chuckle-worthy. His introduction scene, which gets him the moniker, Sambar, is a fantastic foreshadowing of what he becomes in the end. Every time he says “scene-u” and imagines himself being vindicated, he makes us root for him more.
It’s hard to tell whether his character is written with more visual detailing than Durga’s, or that Manikandan fills these gaps as an actor, but he makes it work and how! For instance, Durga has a flashback, montage song, multiple conversations, and scenes explaining her redemption arc to the audience, but Manikandan only gets fleeting moments. We never get a backstory for why he’s derided, except for a passing comment by colleagues. But Manikandan, the actor, never lets us forget that he’s a desperate underdog too. He makes the character not just relatable but also immensely likable and life-like.
In stark contrast, Ajmal Amir as the psychopath kidnapper is as if he jumped right out of a comic book. His exaggerated expressions, staccato dialogue delivery is less menacing than disgusting. Despite Durga appearing tiny in front of his towering figure, he doesn’t look like he stands a chance against her at all. It doesn’t help that the character is written awkwardly too. He gets a pointless backstory as if to ‘explain’ his predicament of being a psychopath. There are names of some medical “disorders” thrown in, for good measure. Without giving away too much, I wouldn’t be surprised if gynaecologists took offense.
The problems, however, begin much before that. The order of scenes is odd. For instance, we are shown the villain much before Durga’s encounter with him. The film sets out to establish for the viewer that the character is a psychopath. In that process, we lose out on the surprises of timely discovery.
Immediately after an accident in which Durga loses her brother and her eyesight, the film jumps to a song about moving on — Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum (this too shall pass). The film doesn’t give her the time to mourn. So, when conversations around her guilt appear later, it left me wondering if she hadn’t moved on, as the song suggested earlier. The film, at times, gets rather trope-y too.
Overall, Netrikann is an interesting investigative thriller driven by a group of underdogs. If there was a follow-up TV series where visually impaired Durga and earnestly incompetent Manikandan chase down criminals of Chennai, I would have most certainly watched. I hold it against Milind Rau for eliminating all possibilities of that.
Netrikann is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar.
Rating: 3/5
source https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/netrikann-movie-review-thriller-starring-nayanthara-is-an-engaging-story-of-underdogs-but-offers-few-surprises-9885841.html
