Neram is a Tamil- Malayalam bilingual debut effort of Alphonse pathuren. The Tamil and Malayalam industry over the years have given us some breath taking cinema. The two are clearly the next big face of Indian cinema and Alphonse shows us why. Neram is about Vettri whose life is in a total disarray after losing his job. He decides to take loan from “Vadi” Raja a small time goonda. His love life with Veni too seems to have taken a hit because of his unemployment. Things go from bad to worse when he loses the money he is supposed to return. With everything lost how Vettri comes out of the mess and turns the table in his favour forms the rest of the story.
Alphonse takes the path less travelled here in south which is the Neo-Noir genre. The Narration is extraordinary .He spins a beautiful web around one character and connects every-other character to it. Alphonse’s making and direction is topnotch. He shows no signs of being a first timer. He has also been smart in picking the artists for very role.
Navin as Vetri has given a very good performance in Vetri. He gets his emotions right as a youth who has lost quite a bit in his life. Nazriya’s debut as lead had quite some expectation. She has done a decent job given that her role is petty. Simha as vadi Raja is excellent and so is Rj Ramesh as light house. They show us they can be comical and tough. Seasoned performers like John vijay, Thambi Ramiah do their parts right. Watch out for a the cameo by Naazer.
Technically the movie is the best we have seen in the last few years. The camera work by Aanand is fabulous and sets the tone for the movie. Editing is picture perfect and the flow of back and forth is tremendous. BGM of Rajesh is new and different. A special mention to the placement of “pistah” , the timing is immaculate.
Alphonse in the very beginning of the movie has a given a small tribute to Tarantino.The maker sure looks to have taken a lot of inspiration from the master for good.
Neram is one those movies that sets the standard for making very high for other movies to reach. Having already lost a gem like “Aaranya kaandam” to the whims of commerical cinema, it is up to the audience to lap this up and preserve it.
Neram : stunning 4/5
