Production: Avni Movies Cast: Hip Hop Tamizha Adhi, Karu Pazhaniappan Direction: D Parthiban Desingu Screenplay: Devesh Jeyachandran, Sreekanth Vasrp Music: Hip Hop Tamizha Adhi Background score: Hip Hop Tamizha Adhi Cinematography: Aravind Singh Editing: Fenny Oliver
Natpe Thunai begins with Prabhakaran (Adhi), a happy-go-lucky youngster in Pondicherry, whose only ambition is to move to France. He goes to Karaikal for this purpose, but there he ends up falling in love with Deepa (Anagha), a hockey player. And through her, he comes in contact with Shanmugam, a retired military man who is the coach of the local hockey team.
A corporate is after the ground where Shanmugam’s players practice, and they are aided by the local politician Harichandran (Karu Palaniappan). How Prabha becomes involved in this and helps Shanmugam and his team forms the plot.
Natpe Thunai feels like a blend of plot threads from various films. There is the angle about a bunch of people who have to win in a sport to win back what is rightfully theirs. The sport here is hockey, and as in Chak De India, we get a no-nonsense coach. A sub-plot about a friend who gives up his life after his dream is thwarted by the system that feels straight out of Gentleman. Another plot thread, involving a corporate that is furtively trying to set up its factory (obviously, it is harmful to the environment) by displacing a group of people, reminds us of Kaththi.
But the film never comes together as a whole. And it is not because of the disparate storylines. The problem is that the film doesn’t use any of those effectively. It picks up one thread only to drop in after a couple of scenes and moves on to the next one leaving us unsatisfied. The filmmaking, too, mimics this approach. No moment is allowed to linger for long. And the rapid cuts don’t help. The film feels like it is in a constant state of rush to move on to the next scene – even before the current one has reached its conclusion. And this is why it feels emotionally uninvolving. We are hardly invested with the character and their struggles. Even the sports scenes are shot in a slapdash fashion that we are hardly roused during the climactic stretch.
Post the surprising interval block, the film tries to make us invest in the plot and take it seriously. There is an emotional flashback portion, that is cliched, but still works. Again, how significant it is to the plot, is a question we ask ourselves. The film solely banks on the star value of Hiphop Tamizha, who carries it on his shoulders. He does manage to entertain you, and his presence makes the hockey portions engrossing. Eruma Saani Vijay excels in his role that is of good significance and not just for comedic value. Debutant Anagha doesn’t have a big role except for the songs. Harish Uthaman as an ex-armyman cum hockey coach has played his role well.
There is also a political angle to the sports drama, that has a terrific Karu Palaniappan as the antagonist. The way politics affects the lives of these hockey players were realistically shown. Just when there were concerns about his character painted with a black shade, the dialogues after the climax provides proper closure.
The three song sequences that appear in the first half are out of place. They look like separate music videos, interspersed with a half baked romantic subplot. The Kerala song is the pick of the lot, which was visually shot well with some candid moments. On the other hand, the background score uplifts the hockey match portions to keep you glued to the screen. The movie does entertain at a lot of places. But the lack of logic and writing strictly makes this a one-time watchable film. Had it focussed more on the sports, rather than the drama, this could have been on another level.