NGK Movie Review
Tamil director Selva Raghavan is known to Telugu audience as Sri Raghava with films like 7/G Brindavan Colony and Aadavari Matalaku Ardhale Verule. He tries his hand at political drama with Surya as the lead. Expectations are rife of NGK with Surya and Sri Raghava teaming up.
What is it about?
NGK (Surya) quits his software job for becoming an organic farmer. As he gets threats from rival farmers and retail shop owners, NGK takes the help of a local MLA. After realizing the real power of a politician NGK decides to become a political leader. But is it as easy as it appears to be?
Performances:
Surya has done his best in spite of an underdeveloped character. His emotional outburst in a few scenes stands out. Sai Pallavi gets a limited role that is also not written in a convincing way. She performs well, but the character makes her look ridiculous at times. Rakul Preet is good as the corporate politician. Senior actors like Devaraj and Ponvannan are good in their respective roles.
Technicalities:
Sri Raghava hasn’t done a political movie prior to this. It is pretty evident that it is not his forte. He struggles to get a coherent script and keep the audience engaged. It is one of the most clumsily written movie that appears pointless all through. There isn’t one scene that stands out and leaves the mark of the acclaimed director.
Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music is pretty bad. Odd placement make them sound even worse. Editing is so bad that there is no connection between many scenes. Cinematography is the only positive about the film. Cinematographer used dull lighting and darkly lit surroundings to elevate the drama. Production values are top notch.
Thumbs Up:
Surya’s performance in few scenes
Thumbs Down:
Script
Music
Direction
Analysis:
It can be assumed that Sri Raghava’s idea is to tell the story of a person who becomes CM by starting off as a ordinary party worker. In fact, that plot has the makings of a perfect political potboiler. Political dramas usually engage the audience as they have scope for showcasing relatable issues and day to day problems. Also the story of an underdog coming to power is always a winning plot. There is ample scope for Sri Raghava to show the rise of his protagonist from zero to a hero. However, Sri Raghava had other things on mind. He tried to make something different from usual. He clearly tried to make a political drama that is not similar to previous films.
It seems promising as an idea, but Sri Raghava did little to develop the idea. He neither wrote a proper script nor had given meat to the characters. Even the lead character appeared clueless in most of the scenes. Story goes from one point to another without showing key factors that led to the rise of the protagonist. He becomes the talk of the town and the target for politicians for no reason. Characters suddenly behave awkwardly which adds to the confusion in the screenplay. If first half is bad, second half is even worse that it makes the former look like a classic in comparison.
Aimless story and disjointed screenplay makes it a pain to watch. It starts off well with an organic farmer being forced to enter politics. But what follows after is a total mess. There are a few hints that the protagonist on a secret mission, but that is not shown on screen. He just goes from one point to another and is all over the headlines without a single impactful scene or act. The story goes off track after the first fifteen minutes and doesn’t come back on track not even for a moment. NGK is a film that shouldn’t have been made in the first place. It is a film even the team would wish that it was scrapped before showing it to the public.
Verdict: Huge Mess!
