Nenjuku Needhi- An Effective Movie on Social Injustice

Nenjuku Needhi, a newly released Tamil Language movie directed by Arunraja Kamaraj, is based on the Bollywood movie Article film starring Ayushman Khurana. The 2hrs 18-minute movie is about an honorable police officer posted in a rural part of Tamil Nadu. He launches an attack against the caste system after noticing the caste-based discrimination prevailing in the region.

Still, his life becomes more difficult when he has to investigate the mysterious case of three Dalit girls where one is missing without any trace, and two are found dead. Originally released on 20th May 2022, this movie is streamed on the OTT platform SonyLIV from 23rd June 2022.

Nenjuku Needhi OTT Release Date, Cast

Nenjuku Needhi Story- Suffices Caste Disparity Backdrop

IPS officer Vijayragavan carries forward an investigation of a mysterious case of three Dalit girls in a rural part of Tamil Nadu. Two girls are found dead, and one has gone missing without any trace. Will Vijayragavan be able to crack this case and catch the culprits?

Nenjuku Needhi Review- A Well-Engraved Mystery Thriller

Nenjuku Needhi is a remake of the Bollywood movie Article 15. The film is about an IPS officer investigating a horrifying crime involving the death of two Dalit girls and a girl who went missing.

IPS officer Vijayragavan (Udhayanidhi Stalin) was posted in a rural part of Tamil Nadu. Practices like untouchability and caste discrimination are still prevalent in this region. Vijayragavan has read about these discriminatory practices in books, but it gets difficult for him to stand up to these problems in real life.

His life becomes more miserable when he learns about three Dalit girls working in a local factory going missing. Two of them are found dead, and there’s no trace of the third girl. The rest of the plot of Nenjuku Needhi is formed by how Vijayragavan continues investigating this case despite pressure from his higher casteist officials.

Even though the Nenjuku Needhi movie’s core plot is the same, there is a stark difference in the characterization of both the main leads. The audience can easily distinguish between Udhayanidhi as Vijayragavan and Ayushman Khurana as Ayan Ranjan. But the remake version of Nishad (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) as the Dalit anti-caste activist based on the character Chandrashekar Azad in Article 15 lacks the effort.

Aari Arujunan as Kumaran does an excellent job. Aari tries to immerse himself in the character of a brave, outspoken activist with some intensity. But ultimately, it turns out to be an oversimplified rehash of Nishad that seems expendable.

Another character, a young doctor, Anitha, secretly working with Vijayragavan to ensure justice is done, leaves the viewers with conflicted feelings. Suresh Chakravarthy takes on Manoj Pahwa’s role, as a corrupt, casteist, Brahmin police officer who tries to sabotage the investigation at every stage. Suresh recreated this role with alarming threats and delivered an outstanding performance. Shivani Rajasekhar is another good aspect of this movie.

She played the role of Kurunji- the powerful and straightforward sister of one of the murder victims, and within the short space given to her character, she did an amazing job. All the other actors deliver their best performances to keep the viewers interested in this movie which deals with many political issues that sometimes get exhausting for the audience. The screenplay by Anuraja Kamaraj and the sufferings undergone by each character make the audience root for this movie. The writing of most of the dialogues is very effective and deserves to be appreciated. The movie is justified by interesting incidents and settings so that the movie Nenjuku Needhi does not feel extreme.

Overall, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Nenjuku Need is a powerful and interesting movie. Nenjuku Needhi’s movie hits the audience with its talks about caste disparities and social injustice practices. The Cinematography by Dinesh Krishnan in the movie outshined. Though the audience is well aware of what happens next in the movie, the script and the making of the movie are very effective, and that keeps one engrossed. The movie is worth the shot and is available on the ott platform SonyLIV.