How does an individual, especially women, communicate a 'No' without being subjected to apprehensions. Director H. Vinoth's Nerkonda Paarvai deals with the idea of consent in a macroscopic way, where an act of self-defense by a group of women leads to a major battle between the dominant and the dominated. The film is bankrolled by Boney Kapoor under the production banner Bayview Projects LLP.
Adapted from Aniruddha Roy Chaudhary's 2016 Hindi film Pink (Starring Amitabh Bachchan), Nerkonda Paarvai is about three working-class, independent women Meera, Andrea and Famitha Banu (played by Shraddha Srinath, Andrea Tariang and Abhirami Vekatachalam respectively) who spends time with a group of men Adhik, Vishwa, Venky and Gavas (played by Arjun Chidambaram, Adhik Ravichandran, Aswin Rao and Sujith Sankar respectively) at resort after a rock concert.
The acquaintance leads to an unexpected turn of events as one of the boys gets attacked by one of the women as an act of defiance when he forces himself onto her. After a series of intimidation and threats, the women take this battle to court, where they are represented by Bharath Subramanian (played by Ajith Kumar) an erratic lawyer, who is under medication for stress.
The film really encapsulates the cosmopolitan nature of the city through the women. We see them at work, amongst the bustling crowds, and the film takes us to the moments they share within the apartment they live in. These instances make them more human and makes us root for the central characters. The film doesn't wait for the courtroom portions to keep us invested, as we become more engrossed with the battles fought by the women.
There are sequences that pack a haunting and disturbing feel. Ajith's character is introduced to us as a phantom-like presence, and the stark feel is amplified more with Meera's tussle with the men. The courtroom drama, despite its liberal dose of histrionics and sermon-like moments, does an effective job at unraveling the central conceit of the film. The writing exposes the society's judgemental gaze towards a woman, who did nothing but assert her agency. The dialogues are sharp and to the point, making it one if the highlights. Nerkonda Paaravai conveys a message by toning the preachiness down.
In terms of form, Nerkonda Paarvai is not very different from the original. The handheld aesthetic and reduced colour palette of the latter is contrasted by the stabilized cinematography and the vibrant tone of this film. The biggest challenge of placing a fight sequence in a remake like Pink to satisfy the mass image of Ajith is very well justified and done in style. People who had watched the original would still buy these mass scenes, as the major story is in a narrative pattern. Ajith doesn't go overboard in the stunt scenes and does well to keep the flow balanced.
Ajith Kumar delivers restraint performance through a steady mix of subtle and rousing moments and Vidya Balan makes her presence felt in a brief role as Bharath's wife, Kalyani. Shraddha Srinath does well, portrays the strength and vulnerability of Meera, and her relationship with Andrea and Famitha is shown through well-acted moments. Rangaraj Pandey's intentionally loud performance as the opposition lawyer gels well with his character. H. Vinoth takes up the premise and owns it by providing a few tweaks that are coherent with the film's large scheme of things.
[Review based on a special preview show to the press members on August 6th. Catch the film in theatres, from the 8th of August]