Every artist suffers from tedium at some point. Every director has their templates. It's high time Gautham Vasudev Menon brushes aside the after-effects of his earlier films and moves on to something totally fresh. For GVM, it's always been high-on-love-high-on-action storylines; so much that a number of his recent films (including this one) feel like less-than-fulfilling rehashes of his earlier outings. 3.5 years in the making with plenty of sustained hype regarding the collaboration between one of Tamil cinema's most relevant stars (Dhanush) and a director who has always been known for balance styling with substance (well, that used to be the case), ENPT was touted to be a cracker.
However, ENPT is filled with (by-now-generic) GVM tropes that come across as no surprise to viewers: a fully-urban setting, a romance that may sound superficial on paper but somehow translates well onto the screen, voice-overs (one too many in ENPT, I felt), familial vibes that often remind you of your own homes, a gracefully written heroine, a viciously creepy villain who always targets the heroine, crisply shot fight sequences and chartbuster songs. It's all there but packaged slightly differently!
ENPT is more in tune with GVM's Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada which was also a strange blend of action and romance. The non-linearity in the screenplay doesn't work in its full effect here. The frequent jumps in the timeline only contribute to the overall chaos. Yet, it does feel like the first half was a lot more upbeat compared to the second. As in most GVM flicks, the initial half is all about the breezy romance between the lead pair of ENPT: Raghu (a clean-shaven Dhanush), a college student and Lekha (a gorgeous Megha Akash), an upcoming actress. The love-at-first-sight element kicks in as usual, and in no time, they're chilling in each other's arms.
But we are also shown snippets of Raghu being involved in somewhat non-sensical gunfights in between. So, the director, with the help of a gazillion voiceovers, keeps spoonfeeding his viewers, in case they couldn't follow what the hell was going on. Some of them (the voiceovers, I mean) do enhance the storytelling (for example, the scene in the caravan's bathroom) and help connect a few dots especially when dialogues are lacking.
As one would expect from GVM films, the cinematography (Jomon T John and Manoj Paramahamsa) and the music (Darbuka Siva) are top-notch. Dhanush tries his best to salvage what the lazy scripting offers him, and the scene (set in a hospital corridor) where he inquires about the health condition of someone he cares deeply, is particularly remarkable. There's also an intriguing fight sequence that takes place inside an elevator; I wish these elements (including the wonderful compositions by Darbuka Siva) were used in a film boasting a better screenplay, and not something that frequently evokes déjà vu.
