Review: Naane Varuvean

Director: Selvaraghavan
Actors: Dhanush, Indhuja, Elli Avrram, Prabhu and others
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Rating: 3.5 stars

Director Selvaraghavan comes up with a gripping supernatural thriller that succeeds in retaining your attention from start to finish.

The story revolves around twins Prabhu and Kathir (both played by Dhanush). While Prabhu is what a typical Indian family would classify as a good boy, his twin brother Kathir is everything he is not.

Kathir is naughty to the point of being wicked and the evil spark in him does not go unnoticed by his dad, who is worried about his son’s vicious behaviour.

It is under these circumstances that one day his dad punishes Kathir for some mischief by tying him up to a tree on the edge of the forest.

Unfortunately, the boy is kidnapped by a psycho hunter prefers hunting humans rather than animals.

Kathir, who is held hostage in the forest, kills his kidnapper and makes his way back home.

Although he returns home, he is no longer the same boy he was before being kidnapped for he now knows what killing a human being means.

It is not long before he attempts to kill his own brother and dad as well. While his mother manages to save the life of his twin by a whisker, his dad is not so lucky.

A terror-stricken mother then seeks the advice of an astrologer who suggests she separate the two twins. Else, one will claim the life of the other, the astrologer tells the mom.

Desperate to protect the life of Prabhu, her younger son, she abandons her elder boy, Kathir.

Years pass by and Prabhu goes on to become a respectable man in society. He has a loving wife (Indhuja) and a daughter Sathya whose world revolves around him.

Life is pure bliss for Prabhu until one day, the family decides to go on a picnic. His daughter Sathya, who is cheerful until the trip, displays strange and weird behaviour after the trip to North India.

At one point, the family gets to realise she is possessed. And the spirit possessing her wants her dad to kill someone…

The first half of the film is just brilliant. You find yourself keenly following the story as every second has something of value to offer to the plot.

A twist here and an unexpected turn there spice up the proceedings and by the time the intermission is announced, the story is in a nice position to emerge as an outstanding film.

However, the director is unable to maintain the tempo of the plot in the second half, primarily because the unexpected twists that added spice to the plot and upped the tempo go missing.

The developments in the second half are more or less predictable and that ruins the suspense element.

As a result, you have an engaging good film in the end. However, you feel it could have achieved greater heights if the director had dared to be a little more experimental in his treatment of the story’s plot in the latter half.

Nevertheless, the film is a good engaging thriller that is worth your time.

The film has brilliant performances coming in from Dhanush, who impresses more as the villain than as the hero. Indhuja, who has delivered several good performances before including that specatular performance in ‘Magamuni’, comes up with a sterling performance in this one as well.

Actor Prabhu is majestic and dignified as always and Yogi Babu makes a decent attempt at adding humour to the proceedings.

Yuvan Shankar Raja’s background score is just outstanding and is one of the reasons why the film works like a charm. His background score in the scene where the antagonist is introduced gives you goosebumps and gets you interested in the plot.

In all, Selvaraghavan, Dhanush and Yuvan together deliver yet another enjoyable film.