CELEBS FACTORY

Samar (Veera) is forced to participate in sex orgies by his father even as an eight-year old. Some years later, a neighbour Meenakshi (Swapna Abraham) notices something amiss with him and decides to find out what is happening in his house.

She stumbles on an orgy in which the boy is being forced to take part. She calls in the cops to rescue the boy, but his father fires on the police team and ultimately commits suicide. Meenakshi takes in Samar, renames him Veera and tries to bring a semblance of normalcy in his life. He grows up into a young adult, but then Samar/Veera starts getting nightmares about his childhood and believes that only Meenakshi can save him. He develops feelings for her, and when she decides to get married, all hell breaks loose.

Gautham Menon takes up a very pertinent issue as the theme of 'Nadunisi Naaygal' (midnight dogs) — child sex abuse and the effect it has on children, even though they do not all grow up to be the monster portrayed in the movie.

The promotional advertisements claimed that the movie was based on a true story, but it seems heavily inspired from the characters with split personalities in Thomas Harris' books 'Red Dragon' and 'The Silence of the Lambs'. In the first, the protagonist is unable to control his violent, sexual urges because of abuse he suffered as a child, and in the second a serial killer kidnaps women and skins them. In 'Nadunisi Naaygal', Veera kidnaps, sexually abuses women, kills them and then removes their scalp for their hair.

Veera has tremendous screen presence and fulfils the faith reposed in him by the director. In his earlier avataar he was a production assistant to Gautham Menon, but he has taken to acting like a natural. Though he seemed a bit raw in the scenes where he was portrayed as a school student, he comes into his own in the later half of the movie. Sameera Reddy shines as Sukanya, one of the women kidnapped by Veera. At first she protests timidly to be let free but when she realises that there is no way out, she fights Veera like a wildcat. One of the best scenes of the movie is when, drenched to the skin, she tries to flee from captivity by evading the killer guard dogs. Deva, another assistant of the director, makes a confident debut as ACP Vijay, who rescues Sukanya and other women held captive by Veera.

Manoj Paramahamsa quite literally makes a splash from the first scene onwards when Veera shoots dead a cop who falls in a puddle of water. The close-ups of the mentally-ill protagonist and the shots inside his SUV, in which he kidnaps Sukanya, and his house add to the claustrophobic feel of the movie.

There are no songs nor any background music in the movie, and the audience gets to hear only the ambient noise in the surroundings where the scenes are shot. A novel attempt indeed.

But what was the need to have brought in Samantha (who had a guest appearance in 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya' also) for a single scene as an inmate of the mental asylum where Veera is also sent? Was it an indication of a 'Bonnie and Clyde' or 'Natural Born Killers' type sequel in the works?

In his earlier movies 'Vettaiyaadu Velayadu', 'Vaaranam Aayiram' and 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya', Gautham Menon had pushed the envelope when it came to presentation and themes, but in 'Nadunisi Naaygal' he takes it a bit too far. Best, let the sleeping dogs lie.

He couldn't have asked for more. An onscreen debut in a Gautham Menon film and that too, in the role of an assistant commissioner of police (ACP)!

Needless to say, actor Deva is thrilled beyond words. The actor, who was an assistant to Gautham Menon, has debuted with his Nadunisi Naaygal (NN).

"I worked with Gautham in Vaaranam Aayiram. I took a break when he started work on Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. One night, he called me to his place and narrated the script of NN. I had told him earlier that I'd like to try my hand at acting. So, I was surprised when he remembered that and asked me to do the role of the ACP," begins Deva.

"I was shocked when Gautham narrated the script to me. The story was blatant and at the same time, gripping. I was a little apprehensive about doing a cop's role because actors like Kamal Haasan and Suriya have played the role to perfection. But Gautham had full confidence in me and said he knew what he was doing. So, I started hitting the gym and started preparing for my role," he says.

Deva admits it was easier for him to work with Gautham. "He never gets angry, and he gives an actor a lot of freedom to experiment. As a newcomer, I was lucky to work with him," he says.

Deva says that his family and friends are happy with his performance. "They always thought I would do a love story, but never expected me to play a cop! My sister, actress Maheswari, and aunt Sridevi, and her husband Boney Kapoor, praised me for my work. I called up Gautham to thank him for giving me this break," he answers.

Currently, Deva is busy listening to scripts. "I joined Gautham as an assistant to learn about filmmaking. But acting has always been my passion. Gautham might start work on

Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikkalam and he's told me he would like to cast me as one of the leads," he signs off.