PremiumNagendran’s Honeymoons Review: Suraj Venjaramoodu shines in this dull and boring tale of weddings
Nagendran’s Honeymoons Review: Suraj Venjaramoodu and director Nithin Renji Panicker’s Disney+ Hotstar series is a boring and repetitive take on sham marriages.
Last Updated: 06.50 PM, Jul 19, 2024
Nagendran’s Honeymoons Plot: Nagendran (Suraj Venjaramoodu) is a lazy, jobless man in his early 40s, who hails from Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram. He is in no mood to support his mother, who does odd jobs to make ends meet. Soman (Prashanth Alexander), his best friend, is a drama artist and marriage broker. Nagendran, who dreams of leaving his hometown and settling abroad, is motivated by his foreign-returned friend Paulose (Ramesh Pisharody) who offers him a job in Kuwait.
To find the money for a Visa, Nagendran marries Janaki (Alphy Panjikaran), the daughter of his uncle after her father promises him a good amount as a dowry. When the plan fails, Soman advises him to marry multiple women, and make money. Nagendran soon gets married to the mentally unstable Lilly Kutty (Grace Antony), an ex-convict named Laila (Shweta Menon), pregnant Namboothiri girl Savithri (Niranjana Anoop), sex worker Thangam (Kani Kusruthi), and Tamil girl Mozhi (Ammu Abhirami) under different identities.
Nagendran’s Honeymoons review: Nithin Renji Panicker, the Kasaba fame director made his OTT debut with the Suraj Venjaramoodu-starrer. The filmmaker, who has also penned the web series, sets up the premise on an interesting note in the first episode. Nagendran’s mundane life, his disinterest in hard jobs, and his disregard for his mother and her efforts are well-established with a touch of humour. However, most comic gags fall flat because of the uninspiring writing. Surprisingly, even the presence of actors like Suraj Venjaramoodu, Prashanth Alexander, and Ramesh Pisharody, who are best known for their comic timing, doesn’t help much.
Nagendran’s Honeymoons struggles to keep the viewer engaged, soon after the narrative steps into the main plot – the protagonist and his multiple weddings. The mediocre writing is further damaged by the dull narrative, that struggles to make any impact. The predictability makes the rest of the series an absolute snooze fest. Even though all the women, especially the leading ladies are introduced well and have the potential to emerge as interesting, memorable characters, the bad writing plays spoilsport. The series, which mostly drags through its running time by introducing quite a few insignificant characters, rushes to its bizarre climax leaving many loopholes and questions.
Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Nagendran lacks a defined character arc, which makes it difficult to empathize or connect with him. However, the National Award winner has shined in his role with his excellent acting skills. Prashanth Alexander delivers a decent performance as Soman. Even though this character has an interesting arc, the rushed climax leaves this potential untapped. The leading ladies, including Kani Kusruthi, Shweta Menon, Grace Antony, Niranjana Anoop, Ammu Abhirami, and Alphy Panjikaran have played their under-written parts well. The supporting cast, including Ramesh Pisharody, Kalabhavan Shahjohn, Janardhanan, Srikanth Murali, Sreejith Vijay, Reshmi Boban, and others are fine in their respective roles.
Renjin Raj’s unremarkable background score fails to elevate the already sluggish narrative. Cinematographer Nikhil S Praveen has done a good job with the visuals of Nagendran’s Honeymoons, by establishing the period and space very well. Ronex Xavier and Nisar Rahmanth have done an incredible job with the make-up and costumes, respectively.
Verdict: Nagendran’s Honeymoons is a dull and boring web series which is let down by its uninspiring writing, despite having a great potential. You can watch (if you have a lot of free time) on Disney+ Hotstar.