Natchathiram Nagargiradhu movie review: Pa Ranjith’s film about casteless, genderless love is his boldest yet

Pa Ranjith, in his decade-long career, has become one of the most important voices in exploring the socio-political movement in Tamil cinema. In a refreshing departure from his brand of cinema that usually talks about the horrors of caste-politics, Ranjith’s latest is about love and its politics. Natchathiram Nagargiradhu is unarguably his boldest work that’s both hard-hitting and uncomfortable. If there’s one mainstream filmmaker who has consistently superseded his own work with each feature, Ranjith deserves to be right on the top. Read more: Anurag Kashyap reviews Pa Ranjith’s Natchathiram Nagargiradhu, calls it his favourite film

Natchathiram Nagargiradhu is centered on a young couple – Renee (Dushara) and Inniyan (Kalidas), who are part of a theatre group. The movie opens with a scene where Renee and Inniyan, who are madly in love, are arguing over Ilayaraja, and as the argument gets heated, Inniyan loses his cool and makes a remark about Renee’s caste. This results in the end of their relationship. Cut to next shot, we are introduced to Arjun (Kalaiarasan), an aspiring actor from a small town, who comes to join the theatre group to hone his skills. As we are introduced to the other actors, the leader of the theatre group decides to direct a play on modern-day love and he asks the members for their interpretation of love. As they discuss and understand love, it is unanimously decided that their play should emphasise on the need for casteless and genderless love.

The film openly and unabashedly discusses ‘naadaga kadhal’, which is Dalits’ version of love jihad. As it tries to dissect naadaga kadhal, Ranjith smartly stays away from shoving the blame on any particular community. Instead, he uses it as a topic of discourse between his actors, who come from different communities and follow different ideologies. In one of the best scenes of the film, all the actors sit down to talk about love and their understanding of it. While some argue that love is a universal feeling, others ask why can’t two people continue to be in love without getting married. Some talk about genderless love and why only people of the opposite sex have the freedom to be in love and marry. No mainstream filmmaker has so bravely discussed the politics behind love, and Ranjith has no qualms in asking all the uncomfortable questions which includes reasons behind honour killings.

Natchathiram Nagargiradhu is more of an independent feature, but one that’s more impactful than Ranjith’s earlier films. The fact that the film features mostly newcomers and lesser-known actors allows Ranjith to extract some very raw performances from his actors. Everything looks so real on screen and rarely feels like a performance.

Dushara Vijayan is the pick of the actors. You can see Ranjith in her, and her feisty performance is the perfect reminder of everything that’s brewing inside Ranjith’s head. It is a performance of a lifetime for Dushara, who appears so tough on the outside but is deeply broken on the inside. Kalidas Jayaram and Kalaiarasan get meaty parts and both get their share of limelight to score some brownie points. A scene involving Arjun’s family and their obsession with caste pride has to be one of the boldest and equally funniest scenes in Tamil cinema in recent history.

Film: Natchathiram Nagargiradhu

Director: Pa Ranjith

Cast: Kalidas Jayaram, Dushara Vijayan, Kalaiarasan

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