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Movie: Neethaane En Ponvasantham
Cast: Jeeva, Samantha, Santhanam
Director: Gautham Menon
Producer: Gautam Menon, R.S Infotainment
Banner: Photon Kathaas, RS Infotainment
Music: Ilayaraja
Genre: Romance
Run Time: 153 Mins
Release Date: 14 Dec 2012
Cast: Jeeva, Samantha, Santhanam
Director: Gautham Menon
Producer: Gautam Menon, R.S Infotainment
Banner: Photon Kathaas, RS Infotainment
Music: Ilayaraja
Genre: Romance
Run Time: 153 Mins
Release Date: 14 Dec 2012
Neethane En Ponvasantham (2012)
User Score
6.9
(1398 votes)
Click to vote
Gautham Menon, the king of romance, is once again back with yet another love story, Neethaane En Ponvasantham. After the sensuous Minnale and the poetical Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, expectation are sky high on NEP. This time he has chosen Jiiva to be his charming coffee shop hero and pretty lass Samantha is the heroine. One of the major highlights of NEP is its music, by the legendary Ilaiyaraaja.
Story:
Gautham Menon decides to narrate the story in a linear fashion without any gimmicks. He goes through 4 episodes of Varun and Nithya’s life (childhood, high school, college and work). In all these situations, they break-up due to minor squabbles. The movie’s journey is towards the destination of finding out whether Varun and Nithya will marry and live happily ever after when the final credits roll.
Varun Krishnan (Jiiva) meets the gorgeous Nithya Vasudevan (Samantha) at a college cultural meet. From there, the flashback begins… Varun and Nithya were childhood friends, but got separated due to a small misunderstanding. They meet again after seven years at a tuition centre and that kick starts a beautiful romantic saga between them… But it doesn’t last long…. Back to the present… Varun and Nithya decide to rekindle their romance but this time Nithya goes to Scotland for higher studies… Meanwhile, an incident changes Varun’s perspective towards life and he becomes more responsible. Varun starts preparing for CAT exam and that leads to many problems between the couple. The inevitable breakup happens again… What happens next forms the rest of the story? Watch the movie at theatres to know!
Neethane En Ponvasantham (2012),
Kodumaiyana padam.. paakatheenga.. only Ilayaraja music is good
Jiiva and Samantha are an absolute treat to watch. Jiiva looks and costumes are very youthful and charming. It is good to see Samanth dubbing in her own voice, which has in deed become a rare phenomena in Kollywood. Kudos to director Gautham Menon. Ilaiyaraaja;s background score reminds us some of his best works in the 80′s and 90′s. The title track, “Neethaane En Ponvasantham’ and ‘Saindhu Saindhu’ are an absolute treat. However if you are expecting another VTV on screen, then that can lead into disappointments as NEP is completely a new experience. Cinematography by MS Prabu, Om Kumar and Kathir is brilliant while editing by Anthony is sleek.
Jeeva looks cute and is hunky dory. His acting is best and has done wonderful role of a lover boy. He is ably matched by Samantha, who steals the show throughout the film. The actress has given her best till date and their chemistry works big time in Neethane En Ponvasantham.
Ilaiyaraaja’s music is excellent and it is one of the best albums in the recent years. ‘Yennodu vaa va..’, ‘Saayndhu saayndhu…’ are of top quality. His background score perfectly suits the mood of scenes.
Ms Prabhu’s cinematography is illuminating and every frame in the film looks beautiful. But long shots for emotional scenes remain drawback of the film.
Editor Anthony could not have shown mercy towards some scenes at parts, as the film has few boring moments. The slow narration will be the biggest drawback of Neethane En Ponvasantham.
Finally, Gautham Menon has come up with yet another beautiful romantic film. The technicalities and the performance of the lead stars are the highlights of the film. The film is not about the story but about emotions involved between the couple.
The screenplay moves at a slow place and intentionally at a lower gear for almost 3/4th of the movie. It is not convincing how Varun and Nithya lose touch completely without any withdrawal symptoms and able to go totally incommunicado between every single episode. The last few reels grabs your attention and score high by partially erasing the shortcomings of lengthy and uneventful journey.
Performance
Jiiva is as-usual natural and performs without any insecurities. His voice modulation and his chemistry with both Samantha and Santhanam are good. Samantha dubs in her own voice and shines with her many little expressions (sometimes repetitive). The ever-dependable Santhanam enlivens the proceedings whenever he shows up on screen. No doubt, Gautham Menon has extracted good performance from these 3 characters.
Technical
Ilaiyaraja has composed 8 tracks in total. Except for the opening song ‘pudikale maamu’, rest of the songs are broken into multiple parts fitting the situation in the movie. Cinematography is subdued and employs long wide shots for critical scenes with mixed results. The editing by Antony in the last 30 minutes is noteworthy when scenes reminiscing the past is well blended with flash-cuts.
Negative Points
The story drags and the moments are mostly pedestrian. The movie should be crisper by cutting down by at least 20 minutes. For a movie revolving around the lead pairs, the characterization should have been more profound. Situations and scenes are sometimes repetitive. It is unclear why the director decided to shoot so many important scenes without any cuts and in wide range (e.g., interval scene). This makes you think whether the dialogues were actually written after the shots were picturized.
The dubbing choices should have been better. Samantha dubs in her own voice, which may evoke mixed reactions from viewers. Varun’s father, Ravi Raghavendar’s distinctively recognizable voice is not capitalized at all. Gautham Menon himself sings “Neethane en ponvasantham” song in college culturals when Varun first meets Nithya. Again, Gautham’s gruff singing is a distraction and takes the focus away from the beauty of the moment.
Bottomline
Many may find it difficult to get immersed in most of these undramatic moments. “Mass’ movie lovers will find the movie lengthy and pointless. Gautham Menon has taken a huge gamble by releasing a soft romance story in between a heavily crowded big release season in Tamil.
NEP does have its bright moments but sadly it is not homogenous. The first half sails smoothly with school and college romance but the pre-interval block of a lengthy shot is a dampner. Wonder why Gautham Menon had opted for such a shot when the emotions being conveyed in the scene are of very serious and intense in nature.
Songs of Ilayaraja propel the story forward but for a generation that is edgy and attention challenged, the numerous tracks prove to be a definite distraction. Nani makes a fleeting, handsome appearance in ‘Kaatrai Konjam’ number. Pace is very languorous and uneven, Jiiva and Samantha breaking up and joining again and again becomes tiring.
There are bright points in NEP like the performances of Jiiva and Samantha. Jiiva looks every bit like Varun Krishnan and brings immense spontaneity and dignity to the role but it is a little difficult to accept him as school student. Samantha looks ravishing and shows improvement from her previous performances. The coy look and the sweet smile during the opening culturals scene and the school segments make her very adorable. However, she needs to hone her skills in the heavy duty emotional scenes.
The immediate scene post interval is the high point in the film and Gautham should definitely be appreciated for writing a scene in self-deprecating mode and Santhanam brings the roof down in those ten minutes. All those who leave the hall during interval, ensure you return to your seats in time. It is definitely the show stealer of NEP. Santhanam’s love interest Jenny is an interesting find and is quite natural!
Dialogues like “pey bungalow maadiri irukku, adhaan ponnunga inga irukkaang pola” and “andha kutti kutti box ellam tick pannittiyaa Varun” bring out the apt kind of feel. Some of the verbal exchanges between the lead pair are so authentic that contemporary urban populace can relate much better. Even though the suspense element in the climax is appreciable, the excessive verbosity and the lengthiness work against it.
To encapsulate, NEP is an endearing urban love story with its highs and lows which could have worked well had it been tauter, more cohesive and more engaging.
Although the entire package appears to be very appealing, a few aspects of Gautham’s story telling have been left to hang. The hit and miss love affair is known to all, but a few things appear monotonous as the movie proceeds. Songs appear in tandem and follow each other way to quickly. The impressive BGMs stand out well, but change too quickly in the latter half of the film and look absurd.
Right at the very end, after so many places where the audience cheered in joy, a few occasions without logic, and some unconvincing dialogues stand out rather glaringly and deny the movie a happy ending. But, despite all the odds, viewers will have a lot of talking points about the film and can have long chats about shots that helped them draw bridges to real-life. Overall, it hits many bells with the youth to be successful.
Rating – 6/10 – For the cast, the detailing and another earnest storyline
Jiiva is his usual confident self, and there’s genuine appreciation in his eyes as he looks at his co-star, which makes his acting convincing.
Samantha is pretty, graceful, and does an excellent job of conveying the emotions of a girl in love, especially during the school sequence. She carries the film on her slender shoulders.
Of the rest, only Santhanam makes a mark, especially during the Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya spoof. The fact that he receives more applause than anyone else in the film tells its own tale.
As in many Menon films, the supporting cast is there just to provide the backdrop.
Maestro Ilaiyaraja’s score brings back a rush of nostalgia, reminding us of his best works in the 1980s and ’90s. Satru Munbu, is especially effective, but where he truly makes his mark is in the background music.
Rajeevan’s art-work fits the bill, while Antony’s editing tries to make sense of a swiftly unravelling movie. M S Prabhu and Omprakash’s cinematography is unobtrusive.
below average cinema
yes absoultely this is below average cinema
mokka padam
Kodumaiyana padam.. paakatheenga.. only Ilayaraja music is good
very bore movie not worth it
plus point is Ilayaraja; minus point is gautam menon… uttar waste movie
come up with new idea goutham menon , same bore story you are telling
very bore movie gudam sir. i am very expecting form u but not satisfied that movie..
super movie i like this movie
super
for songs
love story
nice
nice film and super feelings
super songs
Kodumaiyana padam.. paakatheenga.. only Ilayaraja music is good
very bore movie not worth it
a simple love story of a woman wt good music and no commercial elements. ..but slow….watch it…
superp love story…………..
A gud movie which shud be watched by everyone result loved it hats off
Im Big fan of Raja Sir & Gowtham Menon…
But its a big disappointment…
Cant able to involve in any of the scenes except few Santhanam’s scene…
Cant digest the love between them. No understanding between them at all it seems.
Gowtham Sir.. Please be careful…
Cant bear the BGM filled with songs…
Utter waste of time
good movee,2nd off is super and then I am feeling well in climax
This is the best film I have ever seen I cant able to forgot the film after watching it it is awesome the songs make me feel very happy and my lovable actress samantha is very beautiful in this movie it is like a heavenful love film….. The true lovers will love this film very much .. Good luck gowtham
nice acting by samantha and Jiiva..
there is no connection of love..the depth of true love..too many loose ends
beautiful songs..but the story its just crap
Utter Waste . G.V.Menon Needs to imrove his story skills first. Bcz Jeeva is an gud actor and samantha too. But Mr.Menon Not leads his role comfortably . Santhanam Not Score His role well.
Music is Ok When Compared To Screen Play. Most Of The Movie Is Covered by unwanted Songs. It Totally irritated us . After Interval The Screen Play Goes Very Slowly.
Utter Waste To Watch This Movie. Kumki Is better Choice To Go When Compared To This Film.
It was so shocking to see such a pathetic movie in my lifetime. I have always considered GVM in high esteem till this movie. Now I have lost complete respect for this senseless movie maker. GVM can easily be called as one below average movie maker who had huge fan following by delivering classics till now. I’m not gonna watch his movies anymore. Sorry, GVM. You really have sucked so badly in this movie.
I don’t understand how senseless audience are treating this movie as fantastic. Don’t you guys have the ability to categorize what is a quality cinema. I better stick on to watching brilliant international cinemas by Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosuwa, Ingmar Bergman, Francis tauffiout & Satyajit Ray. Hell, go these Pathetic 21st century movie makers and these under performing actors
Conclusion : NEPV is a movie which doesn’t even fit to be called as a movie. Absolute Disappointment and Disgusting to watch this 2.54 hours so called movie.
GENTLE MOVIE WITH SOFT FEELINGS…
This movie is nothing but a collection of feelings with a cute music of Maestro Ilayaraja. This is not a Mass movie or Family entertainer. This is especially for the one who are in LOVE.. Who LOVED before and who is expecting a good LOVER..
Hatts off to the effort made by Gautham and team..
simple ,colorful and rich love story for the true lovers. Hats of to Illayaraj giving a fantastic songs.
I specially thank Mr G V Menon for giving a simple wonderful love story.
nice movie & Samantha,jiva gud acting..
very very very nice experience so cute story,raja sir rocking, promise ah “GAAALIIIII NAAAAN”(In Film Style,
awsm movie
nice mvie…….dont watch it once…WATCH IT TWICE…..U LL LOVE IT
:)
no worda is need
Wonderful movie…Wonderful performance by Jiva and Samantha…Nice songs…
Nice Movie—————–
A musical treat by Ilayaraja. All the songs are very good.
Worst
after long time i really enjoyed by watching this movie, climax scenes super , with meaning full dialog’s
Really Good Movie.
Superb Heavenly Feel.
Samantha is really beautiful in this film.
Its a campus movie.
People who are in love should watch…to me it really suited most of my life.. really nice movie
if this was gautham menon first movie. then i would rated this movie 3 . but i feel he has failed miserably in this movie,. please gautham get back to your old style.
BEWARE of this sick movie…I promise on my job,,,,,the worste movie I have ever seen,,,,,,I thought some films were bad but could be watched atleast once,,,,,but compared to tis stupid movie NEP those bad movies could be watched million times….
WHAT HAPPENED GAUTHAM MENON……you had so many lovely films like minnale,kaakha kaakha,pachai killi muthicharam,,,,,etc why u took such a nonsense….I always like gautham menon;s films…..after seeing this film I will never even feel like seeing his movies….what samantha acting she is so horrible….jeeva ‘s acting was good/…..samantha is like crazy nd such a horrible voice cannot bear to hear her voice in the film……..nd her smile is so irritating
please watch this movie .
very very great experience.
This movie is only for true lovers……
Gautham ….you are the best in direction…..
While seeing the movie, I was just recollecting all my beautiful moments…..
Music….was Excellent……100% fully satisfied
SAM and Jeeva were too good……100% fully satisfied
Request to all
“People who didnt fallen in love…..pls dont watch…..”
and Fallen in love….team……..Please go and watch with loved one…..
The film Needhaane en ponvasantham is the best of best of gautam menon’s movie list. The movie took me along with the love breeze. I feel it. Maestro ilayaraja’s musical treat was mindblowing. Jiiva done superbly. Samantha delivered the feel in each and every frame. Watched 7 times. Still feeling like to watch to fall in love again and again. Extraordinary movie. Thank you NEP team.
Storyline was good. Smooth plot transition.
The twist at post climax can’t be predicted by the audience and it turns out well. Samantha was hot and has showed good acting skills.
“this might be ur story” — Ya! Probably for most of us…..
Story was good. The plot transition was smooth
The twist at post climax can’t be predicted by the audience and it turns out well. Samantha was hot and has showed good acting skills.
“this might be ur story” — Ya! Probably for most of us…..
Never ever go for this mokka padam. Really yawned 20 times during the movie. I was not able to sit even for sometime. Really bad, bad movie
superb movie music is good sply for lovers..
An extremely simple love story with lots of fights and misunderstandings -some very trivial ones as well.BGM was out of place in some scenes.Film was more of a ‘documentary’ style.Cant understand why ‘Nitya’s character had to apologize at the end??She always gives reasons for her actions and breakups and the climax makes ‘Varun’s character look like he had done EVERYTHING right and it was Nitya who was on the offensive the whole time….come on,GVM when will you get past the ‘confused heroine who makes impulsive decisions at the spur of the moment’ typecasting?While all along it is Varun who makes decisions – joining IIM, getting engaged to someone he is not in love with, breaking off the wedding at the last minute….hmmm
Film has a lot of loose ends that does not give a ‘complete film’ feel.Few Illayaraja songs are excellent,but some are ‘old’ style…better luck next time GVM team !
This is the best and soft movie.
Ilayaraja is the hero of this movie.
Whether people are in love or not definitely will tgo along with the family.
very happy to see a good movie after a pretty long days.
One of the best depicted love story, probably it may take some time for the youngsters to understand this movie.
What a feeling and really Ilayaraja has proven that why he has been the maestro of Tamil movie songs.
BGM and scenes are synchronised and gives a different level of feeling.
Must watch in a theatre where the audio is good.
Its a beautiful movie with lovely visuals and depicts the emotions of two persons, Varun & Nithya. Like all the times Goutham Menon did excellent work this time too. The performance of Jiva, Samantha & Santhanam is just awesome. Some facial expression of Samantha is incredible and unbeatable.
every individual involved in this film has been performing equal with the king of music .
the best direction is evidence through out the film and the end portion shows his practically.
this one deserves 8+ rating.. lovely movie with nice chemistry between jeeva and samantha
The movie is really good. People should watch the movie without any expectations from Gautam Menon and Illaya Raja then only they can appreciate the movie. I can’t see any mistake in the film. Of course in a film you can’t expect reality, for all the people who have really loved someone in their life can understand the feelings shown by the characters in the film. If we try to give marks to the characters on the basis of acting, Samantha scores 1st mark and Jeeva scores 2nd.
This movie filled the space , Its shows it’s a gautham film . Movie is dead slow but this make us to feel romantic . slow romantic is the best pace to get the place .
1 or 2 unwanted scene and some missed scenes are there in the movie
Whatsoever i liked this movie very much .
Nice musical romance , it is not a movie with a strong story line or a different subject, people should understand this movies genre before commenting about it., from a musical genre perspective this movie is awesome, if you are thinking of a great story line you should choose a different movie to watch.
This movie made listen to Tamil music again, thanks to Ilayaraja
Songs are really good , ennodu vaa vaa endu……songs superb no word to describe
vanam mella song music beautiful….katrai konjam ketka sonnen ……song superb
Not that bad. Really expected alot from GVM, but little disappointed. Jeeva & Samantha were truly good. Songs were awesome. my preference is for VTV!
I am looking forward to another excellent love storey from GVM.
Please do not disappoint us!
I LOVED THIS MOVIE…………..
nice only some draw backs
superb…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Very Nice….
Its reli tuff to understand y ppl dint lykd dis muvie
dis muvie is jus beyond awsum , xcellnt story , fab romance n chemistry
ppl need to enrich deir mentality to undrstand deir luv
hats off to evr1 included in dis muvie
luv u jeevaa supa dupa film luvd it
awsome movie…really…everything is good…both of them acted very well…..superb story….illayaraja was tooo good…those who hate the movie doesnt understand the movie…..tats the only problem…watch the movie with a feel…u will definitely love it…..and this is not like vtv….vtv is entirely different….thanks for an awsome movie gautam…
awsome movie for people in love great music by raja sir and amazing acting by all the cast
love the movie
This Is The Best Romantic Movie I Ever seen.., Climax and Background Music Is Awesome…. This Movie Is Specially Made For Youth Categories So That Some Old’s Are Complaining About This Movie As Bore Movie.. It Brings Out The Feeling Of All Gender who Involved In love… My Suggestion Is Try To Watch this Movie Alone With Out Friends Circle So That U Can Involve In The Character….. It Is Very Necessary To Say That I Have Seen This Movie More Than 7 times Within Four Days…..
Movie , Song And BG Music Is Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Awesome… Thanks To GAUTHAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTAms6ipV88
Truly for Class A audience only..
Lot of people have already criticized the film…
There were some logical misses through out the film and deja vu sensations in several portions of the film…
But.. GVM and Ilaiyaraaja duo will make you forget it and make you nod your head for Neethaney En Ponvasantham,
Awesome Film!!
Worth every single penny..
You will feel the way Gautham emphasizes romance through fights for sure if you watch it once again..
Best romantic movie..
Definitely BETTER than VTV!!
Raja Sir has nothing else to prove in the field of music.. His stride in music is already known to all and his entry in film music is definitely a remarkable moment in Indian Film Era. In NEP, he makes us feel that Mozart and Beethoven are still living with his orchestration.. Songs like Pudikala Maamu, Pengal Yendral and Saaynthu Saaynthu makes us feel that the songs are composed by a genius who is in his early 20s…
I am so sure that you will fall in love with Nithya Vasudevan and I forgot that Samantha played the heroine of the film.. Hats off to Gautham Vasudev Menon to make this magic happen!!
It is a real good role for Jeeva where he had to share enough space with Santhanam and allow Samantha to overplay him…
It is an excellent film and I can find the positive reviews about the film in Social Networking sites are winning the negative reviews…
GVM has really made me feel the travel between 1990 – 2007 without mentioning the year anywhere. It is not so easy to screenplay a 3rd person’s script for the first time. But he has proved it with his usual slow pace..
Neethane En Ponvasantham – A Masterpice by Gautham Vasudev Menon..
Note: Please don’t watch this film just once!! It will addict you to watch again and again after the second time!!
It’s truly a Beautiful movie, cab be additive as well, watched few time already. Climax might get you into tears, so much of love. Music, இசைஞானி எப்போதுமே இசைஞானி தான் there is no doubt at all. Nithya Vasudevan Definitely a பொன்வசந்தம், you’re so cute, energetic and loveable. A completely different Jiiva, and Santhanam too. Hats off to Gowtham Vasudev Menon. Keep up the good work.
gud movie
From where i come from (Sri Lanka) we do watch Tamil movies but i don’t think anyone would rather comment on any. I don’t know the Director or the producer but I have seen Jiva performing in couple of movies which i enjoyed. Hats off for the movie maker and all the subordinates.
This is the first time i have seen this actress performing and i am so touched and amazed. Few might find it not good performance but for me i have no words to say. I might have carried away by her looks and she caused me to watch this movie for over 9 or 10 times.
I wish i could give her a token of appreciation if i know where she lives just for that smile of hers.
It is a awesome movie. movie has been divided into 4 parts. I left India long back. I enjoyed each and every part. Awesome songs by Raja, dialogues are very great. GVM hands of to you man. Jeeva, Samantha, Santhanam, they live in the characters. Repeated watch of this movie makes me feel good.
I really liked this movie. Songs are good too. Have watched this several times. Very light. Feel good movie.