Kadhalikka Neramillai (2025) – My Flash Review!

Romcom as a genre has almost vanished in Indian cinema these days, more so in Tamil. In that sense, Kadhalikka Neramillai – the 2025 film comes as a whiff of fresh air in Tamil cinema that only had an overdose of guns, bombs, sickles, fire, gore and blood of late. I say “the 2025 film” because, in Tamil cinema, the original Kadhalikka Neramillai directed by Sridhar in 1964 can be called as the “OG” of romcoms at a time when every other film was in that genre.

If the title is a hat tip to Sridhar, the film is a hat tip to Mani Ratnam. One cannot just miss the influences of Mani’s trilogy of films that dealt with youth and romance in different eras, namely Mouna Ragam, Alai Payuthe and O Kadhal Kanmani. If you look at it, each of these Mani’s films dealt with themes ahead of their times. For the same reason, Kadhalikka Neramillai can pass off easily as a sequel to OK Kanmani. I guess Nithya Menen playing the female lead in both these films is not a coincidence!

The film is written and directed by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi and she has not shied away from dealing with some mature and adult themes like single parenting, LGBT, IVF etc. Therefore, the film may not resonate with those who find these woke ideas not palatable. Having said that, as a film, Kiruthiga handles the issues quite sensitively and matter-of-factly without making a hue and cry about them.

The film opens with two parallel tracks taking us into the lives of Nithya Menen and Mohan Ravi aka Jayem Ravi.  Ravi finds marrying and having kids too old-fashioned and problematic. Menen likes to have kids in her life but her character being a compulsive rebel, doesn’t want men in her life. As expected, at some point in time, their paths cross not once but twice after a gap of 8 years. After they meet for the 1^st time, much of the screenplay plays out in expected lines with familiar cinematic tropes. The film is pretty weak in the first 30 minutes and if you survive that stretch, it starts engaging you. In stories like these, it is important to have well thought out conflicts woven into the screenplay. Without them, the proceedings are a bit dragging particularly in the second half.

For Menen, this is a familiar territory. We have seen her in this avatar a few times in the past. She lives up to the role quite at ease. On the other hand, for Ravi, this is quite different from the mass hero roles he gets to play usually. To his credit, he embodies the role with a quiet confidence.

Technically the film is well made with the director Kiruthiga ensuring that the look and feel gels with the romcom genre. I didn’t know that A.R. Rahman had scored the music for the film till I heard the 1^st song. The songs remind us of the yesteryear hits of Rahman as is usually the case now with Rahman. The background score is refreshing with the violin interludes of Ganesh Rajagopalan (of Ganesh-Kumaresh fame) laced with a classical touch. The theme music stays with you throughout.

The script has a lot of convenient coincidences that keep happening in the lives of the two protagonists like for example their professional paths crossing. The comedy track with Yogi Babu never takes off. Notwithstanding all these, the film has a lazy appeal to it and is a good watch. It is now streaming on Netflix.