Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam (2025) is Dhanush’s third directorial venture, featuring his nephew Pavish Narayan in the lead role. It is an out-and-out youth romance but struggles with an aimless screenplay and excessive drinking scenes that didn’t work for me. Mangoidiots gives it a Raw.
The movie begins with the hero, Prabhu (Pavish Narayan), reeling from his recent breakup with Nila (Anika Surendran, who played the child role in Viswasam). Pressured by his parents, he meets his old schoolmate Preethi (Priya Prakash Varrier). The story revolves around his past love and whether a new romance blossoms.
For a debutant, Pavish has done well, though his dubbing voice reminds me too much of his uncle Dhanush. If he can carve his own style, he has a promising future. Anika Surendran looks charming but has room to improve in acting. The standout performance was from Mathew Thomas, who plays Prabhu’s friend—he practically carries the film on his shoulders. Aadukalam Naren and Saranya Ponvannan deliver memorable performances as Prabhu’s parents, as do Rabiya Khatoon and Ramya Ranganathan. The songs by G V Prakash Kumar were a hit and worked well in most places.
With an engaging premise and youthful appeal, NEMEK had the potential to be fun and entertaining. Instead, the screenplay meanders without direction. Given Dhanush’s track record as a brilliant actor and director, my expectations were much higher—this film doesn’t meet them. The second half felt like an extended destination wedding video that dragged on. And don’t even get me started on the climax—it left me wondering why I sat through 130 minutes if the film had no idea how to end.
Footnote: I was surprised to see “phoolon ki chadar” (a sheet of flowers for the bride) in a Tamil film. This trend, borrowed from North Indian weddings, has now become fashionable at the cost of traditional Tamil wedding customs.
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