Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/ngk-movie-review-suriya-is-fantastically-earnest-but-selvaraghavan-blandest-film/
In NGK, Suriya plays Kumaran, an organic farmer (M Tech, Ph.D.) and overall local do-gooder. One night, he finds a political party worker (Bala Singh) lying by a dumpster, bloody and wounded, and his first impulse is to… do good. He helps the man up. As they begin to walk, the man explains what happens. He wanted money for his daughter’s wedding, but when he asked his MLA for help, the latter asked to sleep with his daughter. The party worker refused. Hence his current state. He says educated people like Kumaran should do good, yes, but this isn’t enough — they should enter politics. Kumaran is not convinced, but the shot tells us otherwise. Sivakumar Vijayan’s camera has followed the two men from the dumpster, and as they climb a flight of stairs to the high ground, we see a gutter behind them. The gutter recedes in the background as they reach the top of the stairs, where we see a banner with MGR’s picture. See what just happened? The two men started out in the filth and now they’ve journeyed to a (metaphorical) great height, symbolised by a do-gooder whose name comes with three initials (MGR/NGK).
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
MANK
May 31, 2019
The moment he cast Surya, the film had to be his most conventional project. Or rather I think he cast Surya because he wanted to make a conventional film. But I don’t agree with your assessment about irandam ulagam. Eccentric and ambitious or not, That was an utterly boring, ridiculous film . I prefer a conventional film any day to that kind of eccentric nonsense. Agree with your assessment on pudhupettai and Ayirathil oruvan.love love AO. Above all the eccentricity, it was great fun. I wish he would make another of those totakly bonkers ,mythical adventure films again
Since you didn’t like it, as it’s the norm, this film might be a much needed hit for both Selvaraghavan and Surya.😁
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Isai
May 31, 2019
“I wondered if “Nandha Gopalan Kumaran” was a reference to (or at least a derivation from) the Thiruppavai”
Well, the telugu movie is called Nandha Gopala Krishna, so Thiruppavai does seem to have influenced the title.
I wonder what percentage of the review does BR ‘pre-write’ before watching the movie. The abortion and divergence theorem references do indicate the prep but I wonder if the rebirth – rehash punch was also pre-written by assuming scenarios for how the movie will turn out.
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bart
May 31, 2019
Had low expectations as I had mentioned earlier but this was one movie where I was waiting to be proven wrong.. Alas… hope this movie does well atleast for “Nenjam marappadhillai” to get a release…
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Isai
May 31, 2019
I had hurriedly read the review as:
“He helps the man up. As they begin to walk, the man explains what happens. He wanted money for his wedding, but when he asked his MLA for help, the latter asked him to sleep with his daughter.” I started thinking “Now this can happen ONLY in our good Ol’ Selva movie.”
I guess that would have been a more interesting movie.
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brangan
May 31, 2019
Isai: It’s just not possible to pre-write a review. Then you will get boxed in trying to “fit” those pre-written portions to the fresh thoughts from watching the film (which are really the most interesting to write about).
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Isai
May 31, 2019
Valid point, BR.
But, if you had watched the movie this morning, it is amazing that you are able to coherently convey all your thoughts and also able to come up with these punchlines, within a FEW hours. Wow.
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Odiyan Hater
May 31, 2019
BR sir, each time you have written an article about an upcoming movie, how has it gone? How many times has a movie surpassed expectations, met expectations and completely disappointed? Any chart/stats on this?
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Sherlock
May 31, 2019
Wasn’t surprised! The giveaways were:
1) meh trailer
2) director’s toned down arrogant thinking in his recent interview
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Srimugunthan Rishithan
May 31, 2019
Sad to hear about this. For me Selvaraghavan is one of those talented directors who has an international level talent unlike a lot of other directors working in this industry. Besides, his film making style is so unique that, after 6 years and 2 of his old films become cult classic, this film would be the comeback. Shame it isn’t. I hope he is able to make a new film as soon as possible without there being another 6 year delay. I hope.
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Ravi K
May 31, 2019
When I saw the trailer I missed Selvaraghavan’s name and assumed it was a KV Anand film.
Perhaps this movie started out as something interesting and got “Suryafied” into something blander. Or Selvaraghavan made this as a “one for them” film, so his next one can be “one for him.”
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brangan
May 31, 2019
To those who have seen the film, a few questions:
When Kumaran behaves badly with Bala Singh (from the stage), we presume he is mire bad than good. So in the end, driving the tractor and all, is he “good” or “bad”?
Why does Kumaran tell his family “look at me one last time” before going to the felicitation? Does he know he is going to be killed? Or does he know THEY are going to be killed?
At first Kumaran says working in a corporate office is like a jail. In the second half, he asks Vanathi to set up a meeting with corporates. I assume this is a full cycle kind of thing. But what does it achieve.
This is a very frustrating screenplay. Or maybe they just hacked away whole scenes for whatever reason. Either way, there is no clear “graph” for many things.
Thought it would be fun to discuss the questions, the gaps we were puzzled by.
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Jeyashree
May 31, 2019
The movie lived up to the trailer… bland, predictable and tame and lame…for now I’m cursing and wishing evil things upon whatever or whoever tamed the wild horse.
……heck he came up with thullluvadho elamai and the January madham number two decades ago and they switched him back to duet in chiffon saree with 123 123 dance steps..
And Surya on pasanga 2 mode of being a do Gooder who knows all except that since the beginning of Tamil cinema parents and wife of the hero get killed to test, read trigger, the hero, added to the agony..had I been among the audience in the climax I would have thrown a couple of the bottle bombs towards the stage also and finished it off two scenes earlier
Bring back the magical madness that we love about you selvaraghavan!
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Jeyashree
May 31, 2019
And no we don’t get to know who NGK is at the end of the movie..not in the beautifully complicated and dark and flawed and inconsistent way that selvaraghavanss characters usually are….but in a lazy, paint them all one note and no time to give them an arc way..
So we don’t know if NGK is just an angry young man or a rebel with a cause, or an educated young man who learns to be clever and twisted and ascends the ladder, a sadhu who learns to be shrewd and triumphs ( oh ! Come on .that’s not a spoiler…we know Surya can’t cheat, lie or lose…) over the evil politicians in their own game, did he love his wife, did he sleep with his PR manager…
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San
May 31, 2019
I am puzzled that everyone seems to feel that Suriya was the saving grace of this film. I felt that he was an additional problem. In many instances in the film he could not handle the madness of the character. It came across as gimmicky and staged.
In contrast if you take Dhanush in Mayakkam Enne or Pudhupettai, he totally carries the eccentric craziness of the lead character. Makes us connect. Pricks our soul with his intense emotions.
Eventhough Surya tried really hard in NGK. I always felt detached. Not able to connect with Kumara. Ofcourse, the inconsistencies in the character writing dint help him at all. But somehow I sensed that Suriya never got inside the skin of the character.
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brangan
May 31, 2019
Kumaran’s dad is near-silent all through till the scene where he gets centrestage — he not only knows the top military brass, he also has a (gulp) Param Vir Chakra.
Did any of you get the idea this was supposed to a major “punch” moment? It didn’t come across that way for me on screen. But did anyone feel that was the purpose of this scene?
What else could be the (screenwriting) reason for this huge information about the man who then shuts up again? Just to hang some “trait” on him, so we’d remember him as more than just “generic father”? Or is there something else?
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Jeyashree
May 31, 2019
@brangan was the military background to give a a place from where NGK got his fighting and stabbing/ killing skills …there was a dialogue in the trailer to that effect that wasn’t there in the film
But stil param vir chakra???? Sigh!
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Jeyashree
May 31, 2019
To me it was like he thought that brangan would draw a parallel with the deep, affecting yet subtly picturised father son relationship in 7G and quickly cooked up something in the name of a background for the father here….
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San
June 1, 2019
“The first time Geetha smells perfume on Kumaran, he’s already had the affair. (Assuming he has not bothered to bathe since then, but whatever…) So in the second half, why does Kumaran give no indication of familiarity when he meets Vanathi in her hotel room?”
I felt the NGK and Vanathi angle is actually pretty interesting. She is smitten by him. He realises that and exploits it. Has an affair with her to get political favours. He knows that this affects his entire life. Thats when he says something along the lines of “I am sacrificing my life for my political journey”. And it’s never really clear if he genuinely has feelings for her.
I wish they had fleshed this out better. Instead of having that facepalm duet song (First time-ever in a Selva movie, I guess).
It’s usually the female characters in our movies who use their charm/sexuality to extract favours. I felt this was a subversion in a way?
Suriya’s image and do-goodiness persona stopped Selva from fleshing this angle properly? One can only imagine and ponder.
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San
June 1, 2019
As I thought more about it- Because they din’t properly flesh-out the NGK- Vanathi affair, Geetha’s reactions and suspicions come across as over-dramatic and cartoony. We never feel her pain.
I felt really bad for Sai Pallavi. From the teaser, I felt that her character would be a mystical strong presence in the film. She was reduced to one-note cartoony hysteria.
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Jeyashree
June 1, 2019
@san …agree with you on Surya being an additional problem to the already weak script …whether it was weakened for his sake is something I suspect too… his practiced, rehearsed and deliberate acting didn’t work one bit for NGK… and in the first few minutes I was like we know already, from that terrible cameo in Avan Ivan, and in the other movies to follow, about the good deeds of Surya. not to mention the volumes he spoke on various values as singham… to make us see beyond that requires a special skill from the actor and director..
Regarding the duet and the relationship with PR strategist, I could see was gender equality … heroes stand at one arm distance from Jo and so does Suriya from his heroines…
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oneWithTheH
June 1, 2019
“his practiced, rehearsed and deliberate acting …..”
Thanks for calling this out. I’ve felt this way about Surya after Ayan.
Something changed about him after that movie and he has not been his normal self.
Cool, casual, suave, easily-playing-it… have all gone missing.
Over-the-top performances, trying too hard, trying to be too cute, exaggerated dance-moves, playing to the gallery have marred his performances since then.
And in the last 10 years….24 and TSK are probably the only two partially-engaging outings he has had, unfortunately.
Seems like he has taken the vikram-post-anniyan route!! 😦
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Varsha
June 1, 2019
As BR says, this is one hell of a frustratingly confusing movie. As for your questions, BR, I don’t know if I can answer them with confidence, but I can say what I felt during and after watching the film.
First, the perfume smelling scene is clearly done. But the follow-ups, which include the hotel scene you mentioned and more importantly the confrontation scenes between NGK and his wife, especially her reaction to his outburst towards the end, altogether confused me to the extent that at one point I began doubting whether Vaanathi and NGK really had an affair or not, and I kept waiting for an explanation that I know, in hindsight, would never have come. The only explanation I can think of for Kumaran’s non-indication of familiarity is, in his mind, the affair is just another job that he must do to get high up in the political ladder. He probably does not feel any intimacy that goes with an affair usually.
Second, I think he is shown as a good politician. He is a good guy, but also a politician. And as an upcoming politician, he has to learn to travel on a bad path(affairs, murder etc…) to reach a good place(doing good for the people). His learning curve is what the entire film is about.
Third, I think he only expected himself to be attacked. After telling his parents to look one last time, when they don’t take it seriously, he also says “Appuram varuthappada poreenga!”(You are going to feel for this later). Also, I don’t think he was faking at the podium when news of his parents’ death reaches him. It seemed to be genuine sorrow and shock to me.
Fourth, It is not very clear, but maybe the meeting with the corporates helped Ponvannan’s party to continue to get funding after his death and after NGK becomes it’s new leader? In this connection, I have a doubt of my own: Is Selvaraghavan planning a sequel? The end card reads, “Ini NGK aatchi…”. Is that an indication of a sequel? If so, maybe at least some of the gaps are purposeful and waiting for the sequel to fill it up?
Regarding the military father scene, I too did not feel any “punch” moment. Maybe it was the director’s need to give a purpose for the father character, when everyone else has a role to play in moving the story forward.
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arampesu
June 1, 2019
//The first time Geetha smells perfume on Kumaran, he’s already had the affair. (Assuming he has not bothered to bathe since then, but whatever…) So in the second half, why does Kumaran give no indication of familiarity when he meets Vanathi in her hotel room?
When Kumaran behaves badly with Bala Singh (from the stage), we presume he is mire bad than good. So in the end, driving the tractor and all, is he “good” or “bad”?
//
You take a bath. You don’t wash your clothes after an affair. So your perfume logic doesnt pass the smell test …(or does it…anyway 🙂 )
I do not think he had an affair earlier. I have a subtext that when you are surrounded by too much evil or rather sadism, you kind of carry that home. I sensed that bit of weirdness / madness coming into his character especially in his interactions with his wife.
The more mad he can be perceived the much more he can get away with (an affair / a cunning act etc)
I understand the good and the bad in the same sense. Itha sonna people might kill me. but I sensed AravindSamy (Sheer good) + Arjun (sheer evil) mixing up in NGK as a person. Hence while he does the Amaithipadai bit (calling him Giri) he can also be a Vivasaayi… Vivasaaayi..
I sensed a lot of MGR in writing of NGK… including Janaki vs JJ kind of attempt at jealousy turning into acceptance on part of SaiP.
// Why does Kumaran tell his family “look at me one last time” before going to the felicitation? Does he know he is going to be killed? Or does he know THEY are going to be killed?//
I think Selva wrote another movie… and then changed it due to its similarity with Sarkar / LKG (Rakul is surprisingly so close to Priya’s character in LKG)
So in various rewrites these things are hanging by themselves with no purpose achieved.
//At first Kumaran says working in a corporate office is like a jail. In the second half, he asks Vanathi to set up a meeting with corporates. I assume this is a full cycle kind of thing. But what does it achieve.//
I hate when films use such generic terms “corporates”. No establishment… nothing… Sarkar at least had that established in scene where Vijay meets Radharavi first time in a party… the ambience at least suggested it…
//Kumaran’s dad is near-silent//
I find this interesting. The way we assume someone to be silent / introvert and hence weak. I thought Nizhalgal Ravi aadi mudicha aattatha… NGK is continuing… so I felt good…
IMHO first half set it up nicely… second half ruined it…
First half kind of was modern story telling… second half suddenly became like “Poo ondru Puyalanathu” kind of Telugu Vijayashanthi kind of treatment suddenly (Esp. the fights in market etc)
Also a lot of places felt like actors struggling to act (this was early in the movie with Saip and even Uma not looking comfortable playing character or with accent
Surprisingly Staging of movie looks very hurried… the caravan and death of Ponvannan etc felt like “yaen peru meenakumari” song from Kandasamy… I dont know if folks ran out of money or energy or enthusiasm.
I felt… Suriya who brings out the good in people earlier (organic farming…inspiring…) slowly will go into gray and finally know to bring out the evil in people and achieve ultimately good-for-people but evil consumes his being
(Kadal parallel in this sense)
But these are all movies that were running in my mind…as I see scope for that from various scenes…and as you put it “earnestness” of Suriya…
Brangan… I know you are desperate to see a good movie from Selva… but please… Irandaaam ulagam…???? … PLease find-replace IU with Aayirathil Oruvan… Now that is a selva movie..
Only interesting novel aspect is the way CM behaves in his intro… and in video call…etc… but that is wasted…later… in Iruvar like sequence…where CM is talking to Pichai… in wedding scene…
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rsylviana
June 2, 2019
Just came back from the movie. God, what a frustrating watch this was! Only explanation I could think of was, they had a script which was extremely similar to NOTA that the poor souls had to rewrite the entire script and deliver the new movie in the PREVIOUSLY AGREED UPON deadline. Apart from this I could not think of a single reason why people like Suriya, Selvaraghavan and Sai Pallavi would come together for this kind of script / role.I could not understand what was NGK going through or planning for more than half of the time. We(me and my friends) made matters worse by reaching the hall a whole 10 minutes late. So we were left scratching our heads thinking maybe there was some kind of background explaining NGK’s ambitions/plans during the beginning of the movie. But after coming back and reading the reviews(finally) online I can see that we didn’t miss a thing. Suriya did what he can do for what seems to be half a script but if Selva wanted to have a hero who could atleast have fun keeping the audience guessing about the character’s intentions, I’m not sure that Suriya would be a good choice.
And Sai Pallavi, our special snowflake… the rockstar who had been doing heroine roles, in South cinema no less, that have no business being measured on the loosu-ness scale has been reduced to a silly jealous kudumba kuthuvelakku. I felt especially bad for her in the scene where she comes out after getting ready for the climax event.
Trust Selvaraghavan to make something as mainstream as a duet song look like the weirdest shit to have ever been seen on the big screen. I’m not a huge fan of his eccentricity but if this is how he is without it, I daresay bring back the old Neanderthal in him.
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letstalkcinema14
June 2, 2019
Selvaraghavan tackling a political drama with Suriya at its helm made NGK the most anticipated movie of the year for me. Despite being such an intriguing combo, the movie ultimately ends up being neither a Suriya nor a Selva movie.
There are so many scenes that are bland or forced, particularly the fight sequences and the ordinary manner in which Suriya is able to manipulate political stalwarts, despite exhibiting political naivety himself. There is a sequence in the movie, when a blood-drenched Suriya delivers an impassioned speech that you actually feel for the actor. Despite giving it his all in every single movie, it has been a wretched run of movies for him, stretching back for over a decade, despite choosing his directors with care.
Barring NGK, the other characters in the movie are not etched convincingly. Sai Pallavi’s character, whose name (Geetha) isn’t even revealed for an hour, seems to undergo a Chandramukhi-ish transformation from a doting wife to fiery mode, even mimicking Jothika’s deranged fit in Chandramukhi. While the confrontations between Geetha and Vanathi work to an extent, Selva could have done away with the pointless duet between Suriya and Rakul.
Though Selva’s brand of cinema is found lacking in NGK, there are occasional flashes of brilliance. The first time a man suggests politics to Suriya, there’s a poster of MGR in the background even as Suriya shrugs it off. There is an offhand remark about a nosebleed which foreshadows a key character getting diagnosed with terminal cancer. Selva’s use of colors, intended or otherwise, to demonstrate NGK’s spiral to the dark side was a nice touch, while his experiment with ‘breaking the fourth wall’ is met with mixed results.
Yuvan’s brilliant theme music tries to elevate key scenes in the movie, but it ends up being a vain attempt at making something better than it originally is. The leadup to the climax is inadequate, considering the cataclysmic ramifications it has to the movie’s ending. Fan theories notwithstanding, the much-touted Suriya-Selva’s NGK is an incoherent mess of mostly bland and sometimes inspired scenes.
Full Review:
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Isai
June 2, 2019
Vijay once said that, at some point during the shoot itself, he realises that the movie is not going to work and it sucks that he still has to complete it. I wonder whether and how early did Sivakarthikeyan/Surya realise this about Mr. Local/NGK. I am curious to see how the Vijay-Atlee movie will turn out to be, since I keep getting a feeling that it will be below par.
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vijayrises
June 2, 2019
In what I thought was a inversion of character casting, Bala Singh plays an Ilavarasu-kinda amiable supporting character and Ilavarasu well, plays a Bala Singh-ish mentor character, the one from Pudhupettai. Ilavarasu even gets a ‘Variya’ style ‘leg dance’ in the train.
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naveendreamer
June 3, 2019
Hi BR,
My thoughts on the film.
I was curious to see if Selvaraghavan had it in him to make a political drama. I loved the film immensely.It’s a movie about a man and the challenges he faces when he plunges into politics.The writing is sharp and up-to-date (with references to the influence of Corporate and PR firms).
I found the depiction of politicians honest and realistic. It was refreshing to see politicians depicted as suave, intelligent, opportunist and ruthless (as against them being depicted as uncouth, dumbos in innumerable Tamil films).
It was nice to see that there aren’t any ‘protagonist wooing the girl in a coarse manner’ scenes(which are a regular feature in almost all his earlier films and which he is a master of). I’m not saying that there is anything wrong in this if the character or story demands it. Here, he doesn’t have any of those scenes and straightaway dives into the story.
I agree that the biggest disappointment is the character played by Sai Pallavi. It wasn’t written well and the dialogues seem forced and artificial.
Another grouse that I have is in a scene where Suriya meets Rakul Preet Singh in the second half, they break into a song. Instead of that I’d have loved a scene suggesting them making love. I felt the mood was nicely built up for that but it ends with a dud.
Suriya is magnificent.Inspite of not seeing all his films, I would say this is his best performance to date.
Now, coming to your comments.
a) You say ‘NGK just feels like a rehash’.
Out of ignorance, I am asking you to point out some well made political dramas in Tamil.
b) You say ‘..NGK is Selvaraghavan’s blandest movie to date’.
I found the movie engaging and entertaining.
I know movie viewing is a very subjective experience and everyone is entitled to an opinion. Having said this, I still feel it a bit odd when you go gaga over ‘Bahubali-1’ and ‘Gully Boy’ and call this bland. If you say you have a different yardstick for Selvaraghavan, I would take it as a compliment.
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Ramakrishnan Lakshmanan
June 3, 2019
Surya, in his earlier scenes with Uma Padmanabhan says:
“Avagalam ipdi nnu sodukku podradhukkulla panra vishayatha seiyya (referring to the Government Job for the children of dead persons issue solved by his frined through just a phone call),
naan lam vaazh naal muzhukka poraada vendi irukku”
So as the film progresses, though we expect NGK uses politics to fulfill hs dreams of doing greater good deeds to common people, it became a matter of his own survival (since he himself belongs to the common man lot)
as he was forced to clean the MLA’s toilet and to work as pimp for his bedroom affairs. These things made NGK or at least Changed NGK to take the route of pudhuppettai – Kokki Kumar, instead of Aayudha Ezhuthu – Michael
But the screenplay or happenings does’nt support neither NGK nor Surya to go into their arc. When NGK is determined to learn how to Survive among with people like Ilavarasu, he makes plans for building a free Cancer hospital. But both NGK and Selva loses or forgets these kinda plots, but instead they care more about Ruling Party’s MLA’s affair or CM’s illegitimate / unearthed issues and leading to nothing.
Like these kinds of illogical, not so clear story, screenplay, arc, travel, whatever etc.. makes this film a troubling watch and even a long monologue speech at the end came across a bland and un-inspiring ending, that makes us wonder, What happened to Selva, who uses to make 7G, Pudhuppettai, 1000-il oruvan or Surya whose had chosen some good stories like Ayan, Vaaranam Aayiram and 24 ?!!!
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Kay
June 4, 2019
NGK turned out to be like the last few episodes of GoT S8. It was not a bad movie as such – contrary to the word of mouth reviews I couldn’t help hearing before I watched it. But that we had to come up with our own answers for many of the questions was frustrating. Also agree that this was not a movie expected from Selva.
Some more questions that I had were
1) what just happened in the pre interval scene? I thought the police arrested NGK for his friend’s murder but suddenly we see him in a hospital.
2) I feel nizhalgal ravi’s scene was there for three reasons – a) to explain how NGK is skilled in fighting (CM’s left hand says something like his background is suspicious. He has been to his father’s camp during his holidays) b) to explain how NGK is very concerned about the country, his social responsibility, etc. c) to insert that dialogue where N.Ravi says “namma enna saadhichomngaradha ulagam pesum”. But what confuses me is, NGK gets all that dope on the CBI director, but then what? What did he do that info?
3) I thought the first perfume scene was very natural. That she hugs him for a micro second and immediately senses the difference. Wives have that uncanny ability to notice anything different in their husbands. But considering Geetha’s initial scenes where she stands by NGK no matter what, this sudden suspicion and her badrakali transformation are a little out of place. I would have expected her to question him first and then when the answers don’t satisfy her, then get angry.
4) What was that critical information he had about the CM. After their initial discussion it looked like they both had a deal of sorts. But suddenly the CM is keen on killing him. (As I was typing this comment I also had a thought. Considering that killi and pitchai are friends, which we get to know later, killi would have realised NGK would be a liability for both of them and hence wanted to kill him.)
5) The duet in the second half was completely unnecessary and it slowed down the narrative. I just couldn’t wait for it to get over.
6) I think NGK knew there would be a murder attempt on him when he left home for the function. We are Vanathi telling him “these guys are planning something and I’m not getting a good feeling” just before that. I also think he was hoping he could leverage it when he reaches the stage, which he did. He didn’t expect his wife or his family to be affected. Although having watched so many Tamil movies, I wonder how his family was spared till the end before finally being targeted. 🤷🏻♀️
IMO I feel NGK’s change from an earnest do Gooder to a shrewd politician was etched out well. But all these frustrating questions made the movie very dissatisfying.
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Kay
June 4, 2019
Some more thoughts
1) Was KMK an indirect reference to DMK? Someone says the party has many years of history and formed government 7 times. Also the current CM is supposedly a good friend of the KMK leader but branched out due to political differences (same as ADMK).
2) Why organic farming? That plot line was too weak I felt. And we don’t see NGK doing anything about it after a while. It’s just there in the background. Not a major grouse, though.
3) You don’t wanna mess with NGK is an earworm. My 5 year old and I couldn’t stop belting it out, much to the annoyance of my husband.
4) NGK’s speech after the murder attempt on him was one of the best scenes in the movie. However, felt annoyed by few guys in the audience who were making fun of it. Which reminds me, what’s with passing loud comments in a silent theatre? Not cool at all!
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Varsha
June 4, 2019
Kay:”But what confuses me is, NGK gets all that dope on the CBI director, but then what? What did he do that info?”
He wanted to talk to the ruling party, preferably the CM. I think he had an inkling that his actions were being spied on. Maybe he expected his getting the secret info to irk the CM enough to consider him a threat and arrange a personal meeting, which, otherwise, he would have found hard to achieve.
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mrinalnarayan
June 6, 2019
Was this already shared in any of these NGK related threads here? I came across this and found it fascinating. Not just from this, but Geetha (played by Sai Pallavi) seems to be the LITTLE gateway to the headspace of Nandha Gopalan Kumaran.
Feels like this Geetha character is like a Simran from Vaali feeling helpless in that psychiatrist office and we as an audience not able to figure out.
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bart
June 7, 2019
WTF was that movie?!
Horrific tonal shifts (is it a serious movie or a Hero masala or a Satire), bad staging (e.g.: a friend’s mom comes all the way to tell NGK to leave her son alone (with a poor acting) when her son is just rescued by Mariaatha from poisoning!), either irritating characters (e.g. Mother Uma Padhmanabhan) or half-baked ones (e.g.: Father Param Veer Chakra), the confusion with handling of the songs (Shakespearean – to mouth or not to mouth, to dance or not to dance.. ).. It is even diffcult to pick a character that stays true (maybe, Balasingh with a bottle of salt). Convenient brushing of broad strokes (the 500 friends of the hero(?!), Pandian missing in the climax sequences), Suspension of belief (overnight bathroom tile changing, Hero suddenly becoming Master chef, who handles all projects while also jatti washing) and bad dialogues (e.g.: arasiyal oru sudukadu, anga pona ponamathan thirumbi varanum(?!)). Enna ezhavo ponga saar..
If it was some xyz director, I wouldn’t have bothered. Selva doing this is inexcusable (had’t mustered courage to watch Irandam Ulagam yet.. now I’ll give up that). Whatever intelligence, fan theories and easter eggs you put into a shoddy framework, it will come back to hit you like the suthiyal of nesamani!
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Isai
June 9, 2019
When BR went on a safari 🙂
https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/in-search-of-srivilliputtur-palgova/article3554551.ece
While reading this review, I was wondering why BR was curious about the Srivilliputtur connection, since he doesn’t seem to be the religious type. I thought maybe he has some roots over there, but now I know why 🙂
BR:
I had read this years ago (didn’t notice your name then). Yesterday, I was in Madurai and was planning to go to Srivilliputtur. When I thought of buying Pal Khoa, this ‘The Hindu’ article immediately came to mind. So good is the writing.
It would be great if you can start a Travel Companion™ website and publish such articles. Would help in growing your reader base too.
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brangan
June 9, 2019
Haha. Thanks for reminding me of this piece.
But my reason for recalling Srivilliputhur is the Thiruppavais I learnt to sing. I am not religious at all but the Thiruppavai has two things I love – poetry and Carnatic music.
At first, that is how I learnt to identify ragams. For eg. “Sounds like Thoomani maadathu” means it must be Hamir Kalyani etc.
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Sutheesh Kumar
June 10, 2019
BR had also done a piece on Jigarthanda, it was about the the food not the movie.
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Sutheesh Kumar
June 10, 2019
How many of you agree that BR should also chronicle his travel, food and other miscellaneous experiences in the quest for his art of Cinema. I believe it would make for a wonderful read.
We keep reading about your destinations BR, we would also love to read about your journey there.
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therag
June 13, 2019
NGK seems to be a victim of its expectations. Oddly, NGK is exactly the movie I’d expect from a Surya-Selva combo. A mass masala with quirks. To be clear, there were major writing issues and the second half was clearly rewritten. Only that can explain that duet, the weird fight sequences etc. But I do not agree that the film was “devoid of fingerprints”. The film had Selva’s fingerprints all over it and is nowhere near as generic as this review claims.
There were some spectacular mass moments, IMHO some of the best in recent years – that “Pothachalum Pothayala Varuvanda” sequence was just insane. The scenes where Surya gets mentored by Bala Singh were also highlights, especially the speech rehearsal scene. Interestingly, Bala Singh resembles Karunanidhi, and imitates some of his mannerisms. (dunno what Selva was getting at here).
I agree that at times, a character’s actions were not well explained (or at all). This applies even to the titular character. But this is a plotline we have all seen in both reel and real life. When you are intimately familiar with a cultural/political milieu, it is not necessary for a screenplay to explain a character’s every action. That the audience will use their real world experiences to fill in the blanks is a valid assumption IMHO. I had no problem filling in the blanks in this case. Apart from that, the elements added for commercial value were obvious (duet,fight, that Pollachi angle). Ignore these elements and you get a very entertaining mass masala with a satisfying arc for the protagonist.
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bart
June 18, 2019
For those interested in the brilliance of Selva or the intelligence in the story – here is some outright “decoding”!! (WTF!)
P.S.: Alert: This movie has worsened in my mind since I watched. This accentuates..
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Dora
July 7, 2019
Finally watched the movie. Oh dear, where do I even begin???? The movie made no sense, the screenplay was so incoherent. Much as Iike Suriya as a person, his performance was probably one of the weakest links of the movie. His transformation from “Serious PhD” to “kakkoos” was not believable at all. Every scene had him portraying a different kind of person with no underlying connecting thread. The overall effect was more “loosu paiyyan” than “eccentric political genius”. And Sai Pallavi…..she shined even in a middling pic like Maari2. This is probably the worst performance in her otherwise stellar career. The overacting….geez, I just wanted to cry. I should have just watched Ratchasi…
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Dora
July 8, 2019
Also, what are everyone’s thoughts on LKG and NGK? They had similar titles, storylines and characters. LKG was released earlier and probably more successful? Was Selvaraghavan forced to make Adhoc changes to the script (and hence the incoherency)?
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Amit Joki
November 1, 2019
My theory is that there’s concrete proof of the adultery, that was filmed but Surya being who he is, that scene might have gotten chopped off. If the theory is true, say, that does explain why Sai acts as she does throughout no?
It all seems like that no? The quirky speech part, the corporate meeting, these are scenes which don’t add much to the proceedings, so to keep the movie from being over long, I think it was taken away in the editing room, because there’s no way Selva just “forgets” to end the plot point he started.
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Dolmite234
May 19, 2020
I think Selvaraghavan was running out of money and wanted to get out of the depression of his previous projects remaining unreleased so he just had to make a quick buck with this.
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