During the promotion of the movie Nadikalil Sundari Yamuna, Dhyan Sreenivasan said that this is one movie he actively promoted after Udal. And he apparently said his review of the film as well. It was something like the first half lagged, the second half was engaging, and the climax was good. Well, when 90% of the films you commit and write are unbearable, it is possible that a mildly bearable one might feel like a passable creation. Nadikalil Sundari Yamuna is only a slightly better film compared to Dhyan’s other films.
Kannan is our central character. He was a left-wing party worker who worked in the beverages corporation and has a mother and sister. One day, when he gets injured in the attack of a cow, the dependence sort of makes him think about marriage. After convincing the family when he decided to take things forward, he found himself competing with Vidhya, a textile shop owner, who was supported by the right wing. We see how this competition to get married first resulted in hilarious scenarios in Nadikalil Sundari Yamuna.
If you get stuck in traffic or arrive late due to rain, there is no need for tension in the case of Nadikalil Sundari Yamuna. Because almost the entire first half of the movie is inconsequential. SPOILER ALERT! The movie’s story lies in the second half, where Kannan decides to marry a girl from Karnataka. The basic question that everyone in the audience will think about marriage, the language barrier, never occurs to anyone in that group. The fun part of Nadikali Sundari Yamuna is the area in the second half where Kannan’s inability to understand Kannada becomes the reason for his insecurity. The Vadakkunokkiyanthram kind of dilemma offers 10 minutes of fun. And what you see in the climax is a twist that you can predict just when it is about to get unveiled.
As an actor, humor is the safe and comfort zone of Dhyan Sreenivasan, and here, he uses his natural slang as well. Because of all those factors, the performance is good, and he manages to convey humor effectively through minimal gestures. Aju Varghese gets to play the role of Vidhya (forgot the full name), and it is an evidently different character with a minimalistic approach. Nirmal Palazhi, Aneesh Gopal, Navas Vallikkunnu, and several other actors with northern Kerala accents are in the cast to increase the dialogue humor. Pragya Nagra is the leading lady, and the movie only wants her to look pretty.
The duo Vijesh Panathur and Unni Vellora wrote and directed the movie. As I already said, the basic idea is of a marriage where language becomes a barrier. Instead of building something around it, Vijesh and Unni are stuffing it with very inconsequential comedy. The sleazy humor in the beginning portion is forcefully included in the narrative during Kannan’s first engagement to create an unfunny conflict. To put it in simpler words, the jokes are not connected to the main narrative, and an editor can easily chop off almost all of them without bothering about it affecting the core idea. The recreation of the Vellara Poomala song was totally unnecessary.
Nadikalil Sundari Yamuna has the advantage of having the texture of a rooted comedy. On the exterior, it has the qualities of those retro village comedies we have seen in the late ’80s and early ’90s. But beyond the flat-lit frames, the content is rarely exciting. If the other movies in Dhyan’s filmography are plastic trash, Nadikalil Sundari Yamuna is biodegradable trash, which is less harmful.
If the other movies in Dhyan's filmography are plastic trash, Nadikalil Sundari Yamuna is biodegradable trash, which is less harmful.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
