NUGAM MOVIE REVIEW
Score Board
| Magazine Name | Score |
| Online Film News | 0.75 |
| Times of India | 1 |
Cast and Crew
Production: Synergy Creations
Cast: Ganja Karuppu, Iniya, Jai Bala, Karthi, Preethi, Suresh, Vijaya Kumar
Direction: Jeffy
Screenplay: Jeffy
Story: Jeffy
Background score: Thashi
Cinematography: EK Ramesh
Nugam is about two educated young men who land up in Chennai with destructive motives. They are contracted by foreign Nationals to bring down the Indian economy (!!!) by carrying out acts of terrorism such as mass bombings and a high-profile assassination, in Chennai.
There are other cinematic elements which are forced into the movie such as a couple of inexplicably amateurish romance tracks, a steamy little segment before the interval and not to mention the omnipresent song-dance routines. As a result of such large scale dumping, the movie goes out of form and shape, thereby resulting in a tiresome movie viewing experience.
There are several scenes where foreign languages are used and the subtitles for these scenes disappear in a jiffy, before we can even register them.
We also have the director, Jeffy enlightening us about the terrifying bomb blasts which have rocked our country over the preceding years.
Why should an actress with potential such as Iniya accept such a movie where her presence is inconsequential? One just hopes that good offers reach her doorstep. Ganja Karuppu appears in a couple of scenes where he is supposed to make us laugh.
The two male leads are newcomers, Jai Bala and Vijaya Kumar. Jai speaks like a robot and there are these odd pauses when he utters his lines. He has several pages of dialogues and these pauses prove unsettling. Vijaya Kumar has the typical ‘son of the soil’ looks but has a long way to go if he has dreams of making it as a hero. Another newcomer, Suresh shows some potential in a small role as a local romeo who is madly in love. Preethi (as Yazhini) partakes in the aforementioned unwarranted hot pre-interval segment.
The only segment of the movie which shows some spark and offers a little entertainment is when the two leads debate and test whether the people of Chennai are worth their lives, in the second half.
Editor A.L.Ramesh has attempted an interesting transition pattern for showing time shifts in the narrative. Cinematographer E.K.Ramesh’s work loses some points for the out of focus shots which can be found at a few places in the movie. D.J.Gopinath’s songs may probably sound good on FM but when seen with the movie, they suffer due to the poor positioning.
Alas, this small timer doesn’t spring a surprise and turns out to be a movie which falters bigtime due to its poor execution.
Verdict: Poor execution.
Score: 0.75 / 5
Review by : OnlineFilmnews Review Board
Times of India Review
Synopsis: Two hitmen come to Chennai to assassinate a central minister. But one grows a conscience when the mission's objective changes to wiping out the entire city. Can he stop the other from carrying out his nefarious plan?
Preview: Jey, a hired assassin, is sent to Chennai to assassinate a central minister. He enlists Kathir, a thrill-seeking youngster, in the operation, and together they plot the assassination attempt. But, midway through it, their mission changes and now, they have to plant bombs across the city and create shockwaves across India and destabilize the country politically and economically. Kathir, who has fallen in love with a girl (Ineya), feels that the innocent public shouldn't be harmed and wants to abandon the mission. But, Jey, who feels that the public is no less corrupt than politicians, wants to wipe out the city.
Nugam wants to be a nail-biting, high-concept thriller but the only nail-biting that you do while watching the film is out of sheer frustration. The storyline does offer scope for a The Day Of The Jackal-like procedural thriller on how hitmen and terrorists ingratiate themselves into the society prior to their attacks, but the ham-fisted filmmaking and the even more amateurish performances (Jey's weird dialogue delivery is a definite contender for the worst line-reading ever in a film) turn it into an unintentional comedy. The high point of bizarreness is a seduction scene that will not be out of place in a semi-porn film. At random moments, the director uses an editing technique which resembles flipping through the pages of a book, showing us a shot that comes later in the film. By the time the film reaches its interval point, you wish he had flipped and shown us the last shot and spared us the misfortune of sitting through the entire film.
Verdict: Poor execution.
Score: 1 / 5