320. NGK: Nandha Gopalan Kumaran; movie review

NGK: NANDHA GOPALAN KUMARAN
Cert 12A
144 mins
BBFC advice: Contains: moderate violence, sexual violence references, infrequent strong language

Oh, what a disappointment! The first half of NGK prompted the anticipation of thrills in the second.
Instead, it goes off at far-fetched tangents, losing its focus completely, while stretching out so that I lost any caring where it was going.
It all began so promisingly with Suriya leading the battle to gain more power for poor people.
To improve their conditions, he inveigles himself into state politics and becomes the right-hand man of a party representative (Ilavarasu).
NGK reflects the possibilities for becoming immersed in politics in India but it also shows the very many dangers.
Our hero's feisty wife (Sai Pallavi) tries to keep him grounded but his head is turned by the lure of power and, in particular, his party's political strategist (Rakul Preet Singh).
I am sure that the makers of NGK would suggest it is realistic and, because politics moves fast in everyday life, so they should be seen to be doing so in film.
My problem is that NGK appears to be confused about the title character's motivation. Indeed, it sometimes becomes questionable.
So, initially, he appears to believe in a utopia where the people have the power and there is a deep concern for environmental issues.
But then, he wanders off track both politically and personally.
This left me wondering what point Selvaraghavan's movie is trying to make - should there be greater devolution or is compromise the only way forward?
That said, Suriya is a charismatic lead and both his leading ladies add strands which make the audience think.
It is just a pity the conclusions are a tad confused.

Reasons to watch: Intriguing political drama
Reasons to avoid: Drags out too long

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? NGK has got a unique distinction as it was the first Tamil movie to have a release in South Korea.

Final word. Suriya: "A lot of people keep telling me that for the first 10 years of my career, my films were quite intense and gritty, and then in the recent past, I have been associated with larger-than-life and entertaining films. I guess, they wanted me to be part of an intense film again, which is why NGK feels like the right choice for me at this point in my career." The News MInute

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