'Nene Vastunna' ('Naane Varuvean' in Tamil) hit the screens today in both languages. In this section, we are going to review the latest box office release.

Story:

The film opens in a forlorn North Indian forest area where a couple live with their school-going twin sons Kathir and Prabhu. While the latter is a normal child, the former is problematic and is seen as an evil incarnate by everyone.

Twenty years later, Prabhu (Dhanush) is comfortable in his space in Chennai. His wife (Indhuja Ravichandran) and teenage daughter Sathya (Hiya Davey) are his world. The young girl suddenly shows signs of being possessed by a ghost. She reveals that the 'imaginary entity' is baying for Prabhu's blood. Is it Kathir seeking vengeance?

Analysis:

A charge that is going to be laid at the doorsteps of this film is that it doesn't quite tell us what ails the mentally perverse and sick-minded Kathir, who enjoys bludgeoning innocent people to death. But that would be the wrong thing to say against 'Nene Vasthunna'. A lot of Hollywood, Spanish, Korean and other foreign thrillers don't give a reason why someone is the way they are. Psychological thrillers don't always have to give a 'Chandramukhi'-type or 'Aparichitudu'-type backstory.

What really afflicts this film is that it doesn't have a compelling narrative. It wants to be a genre-intense psychological thriller now and a generic film disrespecting its base material next. The focus is never on the Kathir Vs. Prabhu matrix. It's most of the time on how Prabhu is having to contend with his daughter's new-found danger. This obsession with overstating what was stated quite obviously in the first half, is the biggest minus of 'Nene Vasthunna'.

Yuvan Shankar Raja's score is hardly rousing. In fact, the 'Veera Soora' build-up seems like an unwarranted homage to the BGM heard in 'SPYder' when SJ Suryah's childhood character was shown. The film's cinematography adds to the feeling that its treatment is quite old-fashioned. Nowadays, thrillers are supposed to throw up surprises in the pre-climax phase. 'Nene Vasthunna' has got a slow-burn feel instead.

The songs are tonally off but we don't want to complain. We wait for Selvaraghavan's Midas Touch to deliver a sucker punch. But it doesn't come. The climax is half-baked, with the action involving a handful of characters executed without a thought for possibilities.

One wonders what senior actor Prabhu and Yogi Babu are even doing in this film. Dhanush is the sole saving grace; his performance is remarkable in the two roles. He excels as Kathir, whose wife (Elli AvrRam) is speech-impaired.

Verdict:

This film is let down by many old-fashioned ideas that get a really uninspired treatment. Dhanush's solid performance is the only plus.