Nagesh Thiraiyarangam: Not so haunting

The valentine weekend is quite busy with almost half a dozen movies competing for a screen space; a good movie bars all obstacles to win our hearts and amen for any bad movie. Nagesh Thiraarangam is a supposedly a horror movie that takes place in a haunted theatre, with ghost aspiring directors running out of haunted bungalow ideas, this time Mohamad Issack the director turns to a deserted theatre that has spirits guarding the premises. Talented Aari is looking to break free to prove his acting skills in Nagesh Thiraiyarangam, so let’s see how the movie has panned out.

Aari is Nagesh a failed real estate broker, his attempts to glorify himself as a broker never clicks, not even once and everyone including his family wants him to get a real job. The scenes are made so clumsily you get the feeling of a 90’s movie. A desperate hero, that namesake heroine, a sidekick, a concerned mother and of course a formality of a sister’s wedding that cannot happen without meeting high dowry demands. Of course the lead up to the haunted theatre could have been made interestingly, sadly it's only Kaali Venkat’s horny comedies that muster up laughs here and there. So with the pressure of his sister’s wedding, Aari sets out to sell his old theatre which can rake up good fortunes, but it's not so simple is it? The deserted theatre is haunted and its as always the comedian who comes to know of it first. From there on there is no end to clichés of horror movies, the usual routine follows with no specified order.

The haunted theatre has a ghost guarding the place, their attempts to sell the place goes in vain; it's not primarily because of the spirit or ghost, but the bystanders, villagers who scream at the mention of the theatre. To keep a check in comedy, the director shuttles between Kaali Venkat’s antics and stereotype terrorizing elements that hardly scare you even a bit. The wait for the true scare takes time and comes occasionally in the second half. So Aari and Kaali Venkat come hand in hand with the spirit and decide to quit and head back home, but the thought of his sister comes back haunting and he decides to confront his fear. Does he chase the ghost away, or he gets chased forms the rest of the story.

Aari is good talent; no doubts there. His natural ability to act was evident in Maya and signs of the actor’s desperation is well maintained. That said the script nor the screenplay lacks to utilize him, the love portions with Ashna Zaveri is average and is being scripted for the formality and nothing more. Athulya’s role is kept at a surprise and let’s not spoil it; the actress has done justice on high terms. For a horror movie, it's quite important that the audience is left clueless when something can scare their wits out; however in NT there is no such scene and most of the scenes give away on what’s to come. While the first half is stereotyped, second half has its moments while touch basing social messages too, kudos to the director on that. Srikanth Deva’s BGM is minimalistic and palpable, the song placement adds sore to the screenplay. Poor CGI work shows budget constraint too obviously.

Overall, Nagesh Thiraiyarangam is a palpable horror movie; watch it for the lead actors – Aari’s natural acting performances, Kaali Venkat’s minimal yet effective comedy and Athulya’s characterization.

Verdict : Usual horror movie