Kadhalikka Neramilliai Review: Nithya Menen-Ravi Mohan’s Rom-Com Is Enjoyable Despite Its Flaws

Last Updated:January 14, 2025, 21:09 IST

Kadhalikka Neramilliai Review: Nithya Menen and Ravi Mohan sell the characters so effectively that we start rooting for their romance to work.

Kadhalikka Neramillai is a refreshing take on modern relationships.

Kadhalikka Neramilliai Movie Review: It is tempting to place Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi’s Kadhalikka Neramillai beside Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani. Yet, Kadhalikka Neramillai is more radical than the veteran’s take on modern romance. While the aesthetics of OK Kanmani cater to the day and age (like all of Mani Ratnam’s works), the film, which ponders a lot about the conventional marriage institution, ends up on a conservative note. Tara and Aditya of OK Kanmani toy with the idea of living together and defying social norms, but end up finding solace in the status quo of the institution. On the other hand, Kiruthika Udhayanidhi’s Kadhalikka Nermaillai might not share the superlative writing and finesse of Mani’s work, but the film is truly modern in thought.

Shreya (Nithya Menen), an ambitious architect in Chennai, calls off her wedding when she finds her love of four years cheating on her. Reflecting a modern thought among women, Shreya realises more than being a wife or a lover, she wants to become a mother. Heartbroken, She also realises a woman doesn’t need a man to become a mother and opts for artificial insemination in a fertility centre, where her friend is a doctor. Meanwhile, Siddharth (Ravi Mohan), a structural engineer in Bengaluru, is commitment-phobic and doesn’t believe in bringing ‘another life into this evil world’. His commitment issue makes her fiance Nirupama (TJ Bhanu) back out of the engagement at the last moment, which breaks Sid’s heart. When his gay friend wants to freeze sperm for posterity, Siddharth joins him for fun. As predicted, his sample gets misplaced, and Shreya gets impregnated with Sid’s sperm. Conveniently, the two with a different outlook on life meet and fall in love despite their differences, but minor conflicts keep them away.

To enjoy Kadhalikka Neramillai, one has to look past all the convenient writing in the film because everything in the movie happens ‘coincidentally’. Shreya’s friend happens to be a doctor at a fertility centre. Siddharth happens to end up in the same apartment as Shreya. They happen to compete for the same project and more convenience. However, watching the film, such coincidences aren’t a bother as the romance between the two characters seems organic as opposed to the screenplay of the film. The two characters seem believable–thanks to the subtle and restrained performances of Nithya Menen and Ravi Mohan. They sell the character so effectively that we start rooting for their romance to work. It even gets frustrating when Nirupama enters Sid’s life again, creating a hurdle for the organic love we have bet on.

Kirthiga succeeds in creating affable characters and tones that make the film a breezy watch. Even the auxiliaries like Yogi Babu’s Gowda, a conservative man who prefers ‘Namashakar’ to a handshake, add a lot to the overall texture of the film. Gowda’s sexism and his jokes about his gay friend Rahul (Vinay Rai) don’t come across as offensive as the film manages to strike a friendly chord with every subject and character it touches upon. Look at how it chooses not to vilify both Nirupama and Shreya’s disloyal fiance, even when it had the chance to. That friendly tone is the success of the film. It puts forth some modern ideas about relationships with a candid and likeable tone that incites a smile, your personal opinion notwithstanding.

One might also argue that, like Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani, Kadhalikka Neramillai also ends up glorifying the conventional idea of relationship as Shreya and Sid struggle to do without a companion. It is true that Shreya, who starts as a bold single mom, ends up pining for a father figure for her son. On the other hand, Sid witnesses his ideological convictions fail in the face of the love from Shreya and her son. However, the film never takes a didactic stand on how things are supposed to be. It has a place for Gowda and also Rahul.