Karthik Venugopalan's Nenjamundu Nermaiyundu Odu Raja starts on a really interesting note, where a small girl named Kaushi (Aishwarya Rajesh's character in Kanaa, Sivakarthikeyan's first Production venture) goes to save a bloodied dove from a street dog, when Shiva and Vicky (played by Rio Raj and Vigneshkanth respectively) pass by, not noticing what is going on. The moment isn't about them. They are just a part of the crowd at this moment. In fact, it could have been anyone passing by. The film tries to drive home a point about people not reacting when someone is in danger. When director Karthik Venugopalan induces commercial elements, the film gets muddled, but the climax (despite being predictable) ensures that the message reaches everyone.
Shiva and Vicky jointly run a YouTube channel and their aim in life is to earn money and more money. They meet a businessman (played by Radha Ravi) who seems to be the only 'normal' character in the film. The rest of them are eccentric in some way or the other, so the whole first half looks like different YouTube sketches put together, but not in a coherent way. It's clear that the film wants to make you laugh, but there are some cringe-worthy moments that can even spoil the scenes that are genuinely hilarious.In one scene, Shiva holds the hip of Nisha (Shirin Kanchwala) while executing a prank inside a mall. Now, she slaps him, not for grabbing her hips, but for attempting a prank. There is a gay sequence involving Rajmohan (in a wasted role), whose character. like the whole sequence, looks artificial.
The second half is better and watchable as it tries to resurrect what was lost in the first half, in vain. The reason is simple: The first half wants us to not take the film seriously, but the film's grammar changes suddenly, and the shift might be abrupt to a set of audience.
Rio Raj makes a decent debut as the lead, and his chemistry with Vigneshkanth gives a lot of hope to the film. Among the supporting actors, Ram Nishanth stands out, understanding the nuances of his character, and pulling it off with ease. Nanjil Sampath, in a politician role, is perfectly apt and gets the best applause for his lengthy dialogue deliveries about people and money. His portion is one of the engaging highlights of the second half. The film speaks a lot about the youth of today changing and making society better. Shirin Kanchwala appears as a journalist, has less scope to perform.
On the technical side, the visuals look inconsistent at few places. Shabir's songs, (Nenjamundu Nermaiyundu Odu Raja remix version, and the Thuppuna Thodachikuven in particular) sound really good, but the background score is heavy on melodrama, especially, in the second half. Debutant Karthik Venugopal has delivered a commercial entertainer with a social message that are very similar to the concept videos of their YouTube channel Black Sheep. One of the best moments in the first half is the stretch where they give a lead to an imaginary song sequence, but it is abruptly cut to real-time. The understanding of audiences' mindset has worked well.
Special mention to the climax sequence which might change your perspective of the whole film. The message is much relevant and laudable. On the whole, NNOR would connect better more to audiences who are familiar with the Blacksheep team, but for others, it wouldn't give them the same impact.