Banner: Capital Film Works

Production: S.P.B. Charan

Direction: Sakthi K Rajan

Star-casts: Sibiraj, Prasanna, SP Balasubramaniam, Ramya and others

Music: James Vasanthan

Bank heists - it's something new when it comes to Tamil film industry. For sure, one thing that keeps us reminisced about 'bank robbery' sequence was with Bhagyaraj's yesteryear 'Rudra' that had a hilarious take on that trait. In literal sense, Hollywood’s best flicks – Tom Hanks' The Lady Killer, The Great Bank Robbery, Denzel Washington's 'Inside Man' and Al Pacino's 'Dog Day Afternoon' keeps us invigorated even when watched innumerable times.

But then, with Kollywood, there haven't been films completely based on bank robberies. Now with 'Nanayam' striking out with its genre, expectations were more with slick trailer. On pars, it could be termed as a challenging project for debutant Sakthi Rajan for having roped in two not-so successful actors Prasanna and Sibiraj in lead roles.

So, does the film live up to the expectations?

Definitely not! The film abysmally fails to engross any centre. It looks like director Sakthi has complicated the screenplay to prove himself a smart filmmaker.

The film maybe a favorite for 'A+ Centre' and certain class audiences below it will surely get discombobulated.

Set against the backdrops of a bank robbery, the film revolves around – Ravi (Prasanna) a higher official in a high-security bank, Fereed (Sibiraj) a burglar, Bank Manager Viswanath (SP Balasubramaniam), a sincere bank employee Devaki (Yasmin) and then comes Ramya with three different names – Aishwarya, Eeswari and Nandini.

A bank robbery is planned by Fereed and his co while unfavorable situations urge Ravi to join them.

But the biggest question pops up – Are the burglars really looking out for money or something else?

Well, the story seems to be interesting as we read in few lines. It looks like even producer SP Charan should've felt the same and approved the script. Indeed, we accept the filmmaker has got some innovative ideas to come up with. But then, he should have thought about one perfect idea – Who are my target audiences?

If we are gonna mark our verdicts terming 'Nanayam' as a film for 'multiplex audiences', then we're precisely wrong. Then imagine the situations of B and C centres, who hardly watch movies for the sake of entertainment.

Maybe, the publicity stunts about Sibiraj performing negative role would've adhered everyone to the film's expectation levels. But then none of the actors have got a meaty role to perform. Both Prasanna and Sibiraj are just sleepwalking through their roles. SP Balasubramaniam looks so dullish and it really makes us wonder how come he accepted to done such role. Despites Ramya having more footage, her performance level is below average. Yasmin steals the show with her minimal importance.

Technically, the film lacks substantiality: neither camera nor editing seems to be stylishly implemented.

Indeed, there are few things that'll keep you stunned. Firstly, it's about the unexpected suspense breaking out and the breathtaking stunt sequence between Prasanna and Sibiraj. Ramya's stealthy foray into bank looks interesting though it has been inspired from 'Matrix'.

On the whole, 'Nanayam' seems to have an impressive story when read as words, but debutant Sakthi fails to perfectly adapt them to the screens. Possibly, he should've dealt with this script after few years so as to avoid amateurish aspects…

Verdict: Falls shorts of expectations…

Rating: 1.5/5
Richard Mahesh