The Dhanush signature is all over Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam (NEEK). Usually one would find the writer and director’s stamp in their film but, with NEEK, it is a little extra. As an actor and a star, it is not just Dhanush’s artistic preoccupations that show up on the screen but also his favourite themes and persona, pet peeves and theories along with the usual homages that follow every big Tamil star. The writing on the wall is stark because we don’t see Dhanush on screen, but we see it in the writing, we hear it in the sound, we identify it in the intonations, and we get all the references. As people pointed out, the main lead is named Prabhu (Dhanush’s birth name), and he is a chef (what Dhanush wanted to become). In the final scene, just before the writer-director credits appear, Rajesh (a fun Mathew Thomas) is holding a ukulele and playing ‘Rowdy Baby’.

That Dhanush is an extraordinary actor is known to everyone. He also proved his mettle as a director with his debut film, Pa Paandi, and Raayan. His third directorial venture is Nilavuku Enmel Ennadi Kobam aka NEEK, a romantic comedy centred on a bunch of youngsters that generated positive buzz. Will it help Dhanush strike a hat-trick? Let’s find out! Prabhu (Pavish Narayan) is an aspiring chef who is in love with failure. His best friend, Rajesh (Mathew Thomas) has been by his side through ups and downs. Prabhu’s parents (Saranya Ponvannan and Aadukalam Naren) inform him about a potential match and force him to visit the girl’s home with them. With reluctance, he ends up at his school friend Preethi (Priya Prakash Varrier’s home. Prabhu and Preethi decide to date for a week before they can decide on moving forward.

In romantic comedies, more often than not, everything boils down to choices. Do the hero/heroine choose to love the right person? Does that person love them back at the right time? Do parents choose to accept the love stories of their children? Does the couple still manage to choose love over every other distraction coming their way? And the most important question of them all… Does the writer of the film choose the right hero/heroine’s friend? We have seen Santhanam play this role to perfection in multiple films. And in Dhanush’s Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam, this thankless job is done by Mathew Thomas, who plays Rajesh, the rather generic friend with a generic name with an all-round generic disposition that gets constantly subverted thanks to his electrifying performance.