Nuvvu Naaku Naachav (2001)
I was both excited and nervous about watching Nuvvu Naaku Naachav for various reasons, and oh man, now I have no idea where to begin with this "review". Do I start off with the fact that half a day later, I'm still chuckling at some of the most iconic scenes (I actually went back right now and saw two of them #noragrets); or that I'm still shook (pleasantly) by Sujatha's (Suhasini) feminism (more on this later); or that I had the widest smile on my face after this movie got over?
Okay, so I will try to be as coherent as possible, but I can't make any promises. If there's one thing that I will tell people while recommending this movie is that it is just so relatably funny- like there are no over-the-top gimmicks or anything, it's just a bunch of these quirky people who collide with each other and get themselves into ridiculously hilarious situations that your stomach ends up hurting somewhere around the middle of the movie because you have laughed so much. Everyone just gels so well with each other, is what I'm trying to say. And as a friend pointed out, half of the comedy in the movie is just Venky's (Venkatesh) reactions to the things around him- the best example I can think of is his facial expressions while Murthy (Prakash Raj) is reading his poem (that reminded me so strongly of me reading someone's poetry that I ended up laughing/cringing for 2 minutes), and his response when Prakash Raj is done. It's stuff like this that really gets to you, honestly.
Apart from Venky, Banthi (Sunil), Chanti (M.S. Narayana), and Pinky (Sudeepa Pinky) are just too good. I don't even have the words to describe their contributions, but I will just say that their scenes are ETCHED into my brain. I mean, I have an eidetic memory when it comes to such things, but still. Basically, these scenes are the reason why I will watch this movie with my fav movie partner one day (the phrase "one day" feels like a stone on one's heart these days), with tears streaming down our faces (I am laughing all over again after the semi existential crisis I almost had, ty).
Coming to another stannable aspect of the movie- the #feminism. My god, Sujatha's monologues were worth more than the crusty white woman feminist readings we had in college, and as always, I feel cheated by the education system of this country. I mean, when will we start getting a little more creative and progressive in the way we approach lived experiences of women in this country? There's one line she says, that really hit me (and my friend, and I'm sure, every other girl/woman who watched this movie)- "My husband isn't a bad man, but he isn't a good man either. He's just my husband." I can see my mother and my aunts (biological and otherwise) saying this. It doesn't even take too much effort- they have probably said this, or something like this at one point or another. And the saddest part is that I can think of my friends saying this about their boyfriends/partners too. "At least he doesn't do this" "Well, it could have been so much worse" UGH why do we women collectively put up with this shit? What's stopping us from... I don't even know what. Sigh. Sujatha's monologues must be taught in schools, is all I have to say.
Also, Nandu and Venky were truly meant for each other- like, so often in movies, the chemistry and all is great, and you ship, but you still don't really understand why those two fit so well together. I am not counting the fan theories and all, I'm talking about the writer/director explicitly showing you why these two will be happier with each other than with anyone else. But it's so obvious with Venky and Nandu that it's borderline genius. They match each other on almost everything- from the banter to the emotions to the values; and they genuinely love spending time with each other, even if all they do is ignore each other or quarrel over petty things. The final shot is just perfect: I couldn't help but feel extremely happy and content for those two, and that's why I had the widest smile on my face once it ended.
My favourite part though definitely has to be the fact that Nandu was constantly reading a book throughout the movie, and it wasn't made out to be a big deal. The movie didn't go down the boring path of "nerdy Nandu", but instead just made it so natural that yeah, Nandu looks like a snacc and she reads a lot. Get yourself a girl who can do both, indeed.
In conclusion, I would just like to say that Venky is one of the best, most relatable characters to be ever written (the fact that I have found so many relatable characters in Tollywood is probably the reason why this spiral is not ending anytime soon), and that Trivikram Srinivas needs to retire/find a daddy who can keep him in line and stop him from making more "the movie is basically a giant plot hole" movies. I mean, how does one go from Nuvvu Naaku Naachav to S/O Satyamurthy? One of the most fuckall career trajectories ever, in my opinion, and one that needs to stop one way or another. *duayein hands emoji*
Okay, so I will try to be as coherent as possible, but I can't make any promises. If there's one thing that I will tell people while recommending this movie is that it is just so relatably funny- like there are no over-the-top gimmicks or anything, it's just a bunch of these quirky people who collide with each other and get themselves into ridiculously hilarious situations that your stomach ends up hurting somewhere around the middle of the movie because you have laughed so much. Everyone just gels so well with each other, is what I'm trying to say. And as a friend pointed out, half of the comedy in the movie is just Venky's (Venkatesh) reactions to the things around him- the best example I can think of is his facial expressions while Murthy (Prakash Raj) is reading his poem (that reminded me so strongly of me reading someone's poetry that I ended up laughing/cringing for 2 minutes), and his response when Prakash Raj is done. It's stuff like this that really gets to you, honestly.
Apart from Venky, Banthi (Sunil), Chanti (M.S. Narayana), and Pinky (Sudeepa Pinky) are just too good. I don't even have the words to describe their contributions, but I will just say that their scenes are ETCHED into my brain. I mean, I have an eidetic memory when it comes to such things, but still. Basically, these scenes are the reason why I will watch this movie with my fav movie partner one day (the phrase "one day" feels like a stone on one's heart these days), with tears streaming down our faces (I am laughing all over again after the semi existential crisis I almost had, ty).
Coming to another stannable aspect of the movie- the #feminism. My god, Sujatha's monologues were worth more than the crusty white woman feminist readings we had in college, and as always, I feel cheated by the education system of this country. I mean, when will we start getting a little more creative and progressive in the way we approach lived experiences of women in this country? There's one line she says, that really hit me (and my friend, and I'm sure, every other girl/woman who watched this movie)- "My husband isn't a bad man, but he isn't a good man either. He's just my husband." I can see my mother and my aunts (biological and otherwise) saying this. It doesn't even take too much effort- they have probably said this, or something like this at one point or another. And the saddest part is that I can think of my friends saying this about their boyfriends/partners too. "At least he doesn't do this" "Well, it could have been so much worse" UGH why do we women collectively put up with this shit? What's stopping us from... I don't even know what. Sigh. Sujatha's monologues must be taught in schools, is all I have to say.
Also, Nandu and Venky were truly meant for each other- like, so often in movies, the chemistry and all is great, and you ship, but you still don't really understand why those two fit so well together. I am not counting the fan theories and all, I'm talking about the writer/director explicitly showing you why these two will be happier with each other than with anyone else. But it's so obvious with Venky and Nandu that it's borderline genius. They match each other on almost everything- from the banter to the emotions to the values; and they genuinely love spending time with each other, even if all they do is ignore each other or quarrel over petty things. The final shot is just perfect: I couldn't help but feel extremely happy and content for those two, and that's why I had the widest smile on my face once it ended.
My favourite part though definitely has to be the fact that Nandu was constantly reading a book throughout the movie, and it wasn't made out to be a big deal. The movie didn't go down the boring path of "nerdy Nandu", but instead just made it so natural that yeah, Nandu looks like a snacc and she reads a lot. Get yourself a girl who can do both, indeed.
In conclusion, I would just like to say that Venky is one of the best, most relatable characters to be ever written (the fact that I have found so many relatable characters in Tollywood is probably the reason why this spiral is not ending anytime soon), and that Trivikram Srinivas needs to retire/find a daddy who can keep him in line and stop him from making more "the movie is basically a giant plot hole" movies. I mean, how does one go from Nuvvu Naaku Naachav to S/O Satyamurthy? One of the most fuckall career trajectories ever, in my opinion, and one that needs to stop one way or another. *duayein hands emoji*
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