Naane Varuven Movie Review: Dhanush does all the heavy-lifting to elevate this stale horror flick
Naane Varuven Movie Review: Dhanush does all the heavy-lifting to elevate this stale horror flick Director Selvaraghavan’s Naane Varuven, starring Dhanush, Elli AvrRam and Indhuja Ravichandran, is a simplistic psychological horror flick that is bogged down by a sluggish second half. The first half is a total hoot though, says our review.
Movie Name:
Naane Varuven
Director:
Selvaraghavan
Director Selvaraghavan and Dhanush’s Naane Varuven is clashing at the box office with Mani Ratnam’s mighty Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 (which is releasing on September 30). Naturally, the latter took the lion’s share of screens across Tamil Nadu, leaving only a chunk for Naane Varuven. In other words, Naane Varuven has a solo release only today, September 29. It was surprising that neither Selvaraghavan nor Dhanush were seen promoting the film, which is taking on Ponniyin Selvan. But, that’s where the surprise lies. As Naane Varuven approaches the interval, you are spellbound by how little you know about the film. You hear screams that ‘Selvaraghavan’ is back. But, friends, I’m sorry, that’s where the good parts end.
Dhanush plays the roles of identical twins, Kathir and Prabhu. While Prabhu is the goody-two-shoes, Kathir is the evil one. He is so evil that his mother, based on an astrologer’s prediction, decides to abandon Kathir at a temple. 20 years later, we see Prabhu leading a happy life with his wife (Indhuja) and daughter Sathya. However, their perfectly happy lives are interrupted by paranormal activities. Sathya is talking to her ‘imaginary friend’ Sonu and soon, she is possessed. What does Sonu want? What is the deal with Prabhu’s twin, Kathir? How are their lives intertwined? Selvaraghavan’s Naane Varuven tries to explore all these in the film.
The biggest justice one can do to Naane Varuven is to know nothing about the film before watching the film. It is when Naane Varuven surprises you the most. Now we know why Dhanush and Selvaraghavan didn’t promote Naane Varuven. As we expect a psychological thriller, Selvaraghavan throws in some spectacular horror elements that spring a surprise. The first half of Naane Varuven has Selvaraghavan written all over it. We see his quirks and trademark elements that are nonchalant and impressive.
But, when the big reveal happens in the second half of Naane Varuven, you can easily be disappointed. It’s as if the halves of the film were written by two different people. The latter half of the film treads a clichéd path and the climax is distastefully done. Naane Varuven enjoys a free fall in the second half and takes the audience with it. There are stale ideas, lousy execution and an illogical ending, which is unintentionally funny.
