Nitham Oru Vaanam – Movie Review

A man in his late twenties gets dumped by his fiancee on the day of their wedding, shattered, he shuts himself out from those who care about him. When his family doctor hands him a diary containing two real stories sans their endings, he sets out to meet the protagonists to find out what happened to them.

Directed and written by R. Karthik, the 2022 film ‘Nitham Oru Vaanam’ stars Ashok Selvan as lead protagonist Arjun, a guy with OCD who works for a travel company. There are a total of three stories running through the film, the main plot follows Arjun and how he gets his heart broken, the other two sub-plots are about two different couples he reads about while imagining himself as the men in the stories. So, Ashok Selvan essentially plays three different characters, all of which he depicts in a distinctly different and engrossing manner. But Aparna Balarmurali was a total show-stealer as Mathi, a young woman whose father wants to marry her off, but she wants to find love first. She is energetic, ebullient and an absolute delight as Mathi and the music accompanying her plot is joyously Indian in flavor.

The cinematography in scenic, it’s a well shot film which covers a vast landscape, from Tamil Nadu to Himachal Pradesh, the visual spectrum is vibrant. The stories on the other hand needed more work, especially the characterization of the primary protagonist. Arjun has a ridiculous change of personality just because he meets two sets of people who’ve had it far worse in life than him, if only it were so easy to turn over. For an educated cynical man who loves reading comic-books, hates dogs, and is generally wary of humans, it’s absurd that he was on the verge of marrying a girl within two months of meeting each other. The second tale starring Shivathmika Rajashekar has the couple tying the knot while they are still in college, which happens a lot in real life, but wasn’t necessary in a modern-day romance about self-discovery. And Mathi is asked to marry a guy she hasn’t even met! With each story, the duration between the couple’s first meeting and wedding gets shorter. And the script also fuels the popular misconception that love can alter people’s core personalities.

Back to the positives – Ritu Verma was sweet as Subha, a girl Arjun meets during his travels and the two end up going to his destinations together. The hero has a not very believable change of heart in the end, and the climax was light, funny, and cute.

It’s a 7/10 from me. Stream it on Netflix.