Narathan (2016)

The first question that pops up after watching Narathan is 'How did this even get made?' Our best guess would be that everyone involved seems to have just listened to the one-line meta premise and thought that they were making something great. The premise isn't without potential, but it needs a script that is water-tight and a director who knows how to execute it. Sadly, Naga Venkatesh's script is childish, and his direction haphazard that we start fidgeting barely moments into the film.

Nakul plays Vishnu, who encounters Maya (Nikesha Patel) on the train. He saves from men who are chasing her but happily doesn't bother to ask why they are after her. His uncle (Radha Ravi) is a producer who has invited director Narathan (Premgi Amaren) for a narration. As Narathan narrates his story, we realise that the same events are happening at the same time in Vishnu's life as well. The director spends the entire first half making almost every character run behind one another. Vishnu and Maya are chased by goons. They are also chased by his uncle's underlings — a trio of fools, led by MS Bhaskar. Vishnu's friend is somewhere in this mix as is Maya's (who is actually Shwetha) lover. And there is also Sowmya, Vishnu's murai ponnu. There is even a gigantic dog!

And some time into the second half, the director realises that his audience are on the verge of going into a stupor and finally decides to reveal why Maya/Shwetha is being chased. It involves a money-minded school correspondent (Subbu Panchu) and the film makes some noises about how education has become a business, but by then, we are beyond caring for anything than the end card. There is another revelation — the story that Narathan has been narrating was actually written by Power Star Srinivasan. And that is perhaps the only time the film makes any sense.