Nanban

Cast: Vijay, Srikanth, Jiiva, Satyaraj, Illeyana, Music: Harris Jeyaraj, Direction: Shankar

Nanban is a faithful, fame-by-frame remake of 3 Idiots. And that is its strength; because how else do you improve something that has already reached perfection? Shankar, skilful and abundantly talented, has also exhibited ample humility, a rare commodity in Indian film industry. In his vision for Nanban, Shankar has apparently had a simple requirement: appropriate casting. With just one exception – you know who – the film’s cast works perfectly. There’s much needed bonding between the three male leads. From the millimetre boy to the college principle you could not think of any other artist more suitable to play the roles already made immensely memorable by the 3 Idiots cast. Kudos to Shankar for having had the clarity to stick to the requirement. It is produced with such a clockwork precision that the duration is almost the same as the original. 3 Idiots – 170 mins, Nanban – 168 mins. How did Shankar manage this with one extra song plugged in is a wonder!

Talking about the clarity and humility, another example comes to mind. Vasoolraja MBBS, a remake of Munnabhai MBBS was a botched up, over-confident remake that, with a juvenile flourish, vandalised the Mona Lisa by drawing a moustache and a beard. Kamal Hasan’s haughty presence and indulgent sermons completely ruined the experience perfected by Sanjay Dutt’s simple, rustic and innocent charm. Sanjay Dutt is no Kamal Hasan, but Kamal fell miles short of the expectation because, obviously, he thought he could do much better job than Sanjay.

Vijay is no Amir Khan. Thankfully he knows it and he also knows his stock of limited emotions. Therefore he makes good use of them in attempting to portray this bubbly, goofy and quirky student. Understandably, Shankar’s presence too must have helped in toning and polishing the performance. But the very fact that we’re not able to imagine another Tamil actor for this role is, it must be admitted albeit grudgingly, a victory for Vijay.

Back to the director: Shankar can’t live without his five set piece songs. To include them in the films, he doesn’t offer the standard excuse that other directors give: that the audience like the songs and dances. Shankar includes them because he himself loves them: he enjoys planning, shooting and producing these songs. He must have felt a bit disappointed because the remake of 3 Idiots did not provide him the option for his set piece songs. So what does he do? He turns Zoobi Dhoobi song on its head to ‘Shankarise’ it and capture all his five songs in one. To make it clear to the viewer of his intentions, he captures each stanza from the shooting spot with the clap-board introducing the type of each song! That is the extent of originality the script allows and he makes the best use of it. Ingenious!