Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee movie review: Darbuka Siva's campus drama is a nostalgic trip down memory lane

3.5/5

Story: A few Plus Two students who are studying Science and Commerce in a school in Chennai try to strike a balance between their studies and love for their special ones. They meet after several years at a reunion in a watering hole. Times have changed, so have they. A few have become successful and some of them married, while some others are still struggling to come to terms with the uncertainties in life.

Review: Darbuka Siva's coming-of-age campus film Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee is a breath of fresh air in Tamil cinema considering the fact that this is a genre Kollywood filmmakers seem to have forgotten long ago.

The unapologetically naughty moments students engage in during a serious class, feelings towards the opposite sex, tiny fights between classmates, possessiveness among teenage couples; these are some of the enjoyable moments which Tamil movie buffs have been missing for a long time.

The icing on the cake is the story or a collection of entertaining episodes set in the 90s. With interestingly woven characters and realistically shot scenes, the conflicts and resolutions turn out to be amusing, to say the least.

The story primarily revolves around Plus Two students Vinoth (Kishen Das) and Chinese (Harish K), and their friendship with others in their class. While Vinoth is seeing Rekha (Meetha Raghunath), Chinese (named after a funny break up episode) is literally after every girls in his class, trying his luck with all of them.
Though he feels bad after Catherine (Purva Raghunath) insults him, an undeterred Chinese goes behind every girl, quite hopeful of impressing at least one of them.

Meanwhile, Vicky's (Harini Ramesh Krishnan) attempts to get close to Vinoth irks Rekha. The couple, who loves listening to AR Rahman's music together, gets into fights because of Vicky's bold and outspoken nature. But little did they know that the fight between them on a special day in school would turn out to be a reasonably serious one which alters their future as well.

The mischievous, yet adorable behaviour of Surendar (Goutham Raj CSV) and the little tiff over trivial things between Richard (Varun Rajan) and Francis (Rahul Kannan) are some of the other prominent happenings during their school days.

What makes the film appealing is the realistic portrayal of varied teenage emotions and their fun-filled, but lackadaisical life events. The director has managed to recreate the 90s using several intriguing pop culture references. While the first half of the movie is all about their Plus Two life, the latter half touches upon their reunion which happens after several years.

This contrast in the two halves is convincingly narrated, though the first half seems to be more enjoyable because of the myriad relatable factors. The feelings Vinoth and Rekha share for each other even after these many years, the gloomy lives of Catherine, Chinese and Surendar and Richard's never-ending hatred towards Francis are depicted quite interestingly.

The beauty of the character development in the latter half was the authenticity the lead actors pulled off in a convincing manner. However, the director came up with an unanticipated climax by introducing the character of a Cupid, played by himself. But this forced climax, intended to deliver a happy ending to the story, wasn't really impressive.

It is true that the forced climax leaves a smile on your face, but the first climax stayed more true to reality. The audience were attached to the newer versions of the schoolmates from the beginning of the latter half. The scenes where Richard and his wife talk about homophobia and the sequence where Catherine breaks down before Chinese and Surender were beautifully shot.

Siva's background score and Sujith Sarang's cinematography stood out and aided the crucial moments in the movie. Despite newbies, all the actors came up with a commendable performance. Harish, Kishen, Purva, Meetha, Varun, Rahul, Goutham and Amritha impress with their compelling screen presence and expressions.

Verdict: The film is a treat for those who love fun-filled, emotional campus dramas loaded with ample nostalgic moments.

Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee is streaming on Zee5.