Nakhangal Malayalam Movie
The very first scene of 'Nakhangal' looks like a bad omen with some really terrible acting, and it turns out to be just the start of a sequence of appalling scenes that literally claw into you in no time. Giri (Rakendu), Sherin (Megha) and Jackson (Madan Mohan) share a cottage and are on the lookout for a fourth tenant who could help them pay the rent that is far beyond their means. In walks Manjila (Nandu), a celebrated writer, who ends up dead in no time leaving the three yapping about what they should do with the dead man.
To see how awful the writing could be, one scene in particular remains screwed into my memory. Having found a man lying dead in their house, the trio gathers round a table and discusses what they should do. Sherin suggests that they should ring the police station, when Jackson looks at her helplessly and after a sigh reveals that he doesn't know the telephone number of the police station! Apparently the three of them haven't heard of the miracle number 100, and your honor, with this, I rest my case.
The pipe wrench is a scary thing, believe me, and I suspect I might have developed a morbid fear of the thing. Gawd! Jackson is one crazy man indeed, and the uses that he puts it to have to be seen to be believed. The film is a crime thriller, you see, and the pipe wrench could be a deadly weapon, especially if you don't have handy revolvers lying around.
There is this young man called Jeevan who smells that something is rotten in the state of Denmark, and demands that the three of them pay up without delay. They agree, and Jeevan remarks that they could come with the money the next night and meet him at a local school! The perfect setting to grab the ransom indeed! Std VIII A, he whispers menacingly, before walking away.
In another scene, Giri goes looking for a suitcase that Jackson has apparently hidden somewhere in his room. Now this suitcase is a gigantic one that requires quite a lot of space, if you have any intention hiding it. Walking into the room, Giri ties this jacket around his waist, suggesting that Mission Suitcase Finding is on. And then, believe it or not, looks under the bed mattress to see if its hidden there!
Jackson meanwhile realizes that he is going nuts and starts acting weirdly. Sherin and Giri find smoke fumes gushing out of a room and find him inside - hold your breath - smoking incense sticks! The guy has developed a Lady Macbeth syndrome apparently, and smells blood and corpses everywhere. So he has taken to burning the sticks to keep the odor at bay.
Even more smelly is this spectacular scene in which they stash away a couple of dead bodies at night in a blue Maruti Omni and drive it to the top of a hill from where they push it down to make it look like an accident. The next day morning, the cops who arrive at the crime scene gasp at the ghastly act and we have lost our breath as well by then, since the Omni has changed its color overnight into red!
Talking of miracles reminds me of the acting. It's a pretty miserable state of affairs when it comes to acting and of the three lead actors, I thought Rakendu was by far the better actor. Madan Mohan and Megha try their very best to infuse some emotions and feelings into their performances but as of now, it looks like even a wasp bite is unlikely to bring about a change in their countenance.
The lighting is awful as well, and when the three of them walk into a conifer forest in the dead of the night to bury a corpse, the lighting makes it seem like a carnival could be going on next door. But yes, it's easier to dig holes and they get the job done in no time, throwing the corpse in along with his mobile phone that they neither destroy nor switch off. Result? Trring trring goes the phone from deep down below , long after the pit has been filled and the corpse has comfortably settled in its grave.
'Nakhangal' is the kind of film that has further fortified my belief that film viewers need to be health insured. At one point Giri exasperatedly states that he has had enough and that it's impossible for him to go any further. A partner-in-distress in the adjacent seat nudges me and together we nod our heads in absolute agreement.
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