Nitham Oru Vaanam Review(2022)

Nitham Oru Vaanam, is an interesting film, in its premise. Arjun, played by Ashok Selvan, is stranded on his way to Kolkata, when he meets Subha, played by a charming Ritu Varma, and tells his reason for going to Kolkata. The framing device is itself too contrived and old, but the performances and writing before the flashback is really good. Both Arjun and Subha are established fairly decently and as the flashback starts, we see Arjun’s reason for coming here.

For the sake of this review, I’ll be dividing the stories into 3 chapters- Arjun’s Flashback, Veera-Meenakshi and Mathi-Prabha.

Chapter 1- Arjun

The main starting point, this story lands right in between the 2nd and 3rd chapter, going in areas that are quite good like Arjun suffering from depression due to a sudden and shocking move by her fiancé some days before their marriage. The resulting events are good but nothing extraordinary. Arjun is shown to be a person who is more comfortable reading than talking and hence is closed off from people very much. And he also always imagines himself as the characters that he reads about. However this is merely a convenient device to have Ashok selvan act in the other 2 chapters rather than something that yields any result. But however, the doctor who treats Arjun, gives him the stories to read that she wrote, and the way she uses that to get him off to travelling was really great.

Chapter 2- Veera-Meenakshi

Probably the most sappiest, cinematic story, this has Veera(Ashok Selvan) and Meenakshi (Shivathmika) falling in love in college and later defying their parents and going away in the most clichéd, cinematic and anti-realistic way possible. All clichés are there- sudden meeting with sudden beating accidently, heroine’s wishes being fulfilled by the hero, girl’s parents finding out, register marriage etc. Nothing here is really great except for one song that plays when Veera accidently hits Meenakshi and Shivathmika’s s face which has a peculiar sense of charm and radiance though her acting is passable.

Chapter 3- Mathi- Prabha

The best story arguably, the filmmaking here shines and stands above all the other stories due to the way it has been handled. Mathi, played brilliantly by Aparna Balamurali, though she could have been allowed to dub her own voice, resists marriage forced upon her by her father Senniappan, played charmingly by Azhagam Perumal.

And she runs away the first time and it is treated with utmost hilarity and fun and the sense of light-heartedness is carried over till the final page that Arjun reads of their story. Ashok Selvan himself here is quite fun and seems to be having fun playing as DSP Prabha, who falls in love with Mathi while meeting her accidently, but also begins to form a beautiful relationship with her.

Overall Story

The way Arjun forms a relationship with Subha is clichéd as well but it is done with sincerity that we feel their chemistry and the acting by Ritu Varma and Ashok Selvan is really great.

Ashok Selvan has to handle various different types of characters here and he shines in Chapter 2 and 3. As Arjun, he seems too eager to sell his OCD which is resolved in a rather stupid- Arjun loses his OCD as his relationship with Subha keeps deepening. Again a pretty cinematic thing, but however OCD doesn’t work like that.

The film overall had a chance to do something beyond better, but ends up being an underwhelming film, save for the Mathi- Prabha storyline, Aparna Balamurali, Ritu Varma and Ashok’s acting.