Publisher: timesofindia June 23, 2021
Netru Indru begins with the killing of Veera, a forest brigand with a handlebar moustache (we are expected to accept that he doesn't resemble a certain real-life bandit). A police officer who is suspected to have become this brigand's man has gone underground and a team of cops (Richard, Bharani and co) are sent to the forest to capture/kill him. One of the cops wants to murder Richard for a mind-boggling personal reason. They meet Akhila (Arundhati), a woman who claims to live in the forest, who, they think is a prostitute and so, want to sleep with. If ever there is an award for the most juvenile and incompetent movie cops, this bunch will win it hands down. As for Akhila, she is more than willing to sleep with the whole lot and even has come prepared with a bag of condoms! Meanwhile, in a parallel track, we have a young woman Dhamini (Manochitra), who agrees to be driven to the same forest by Sivaji, a debauched car driver (in favour of another driver who asks the same amount), even though she sees that he has sex prostitutes in the car and tells openly that he will try to bed her as well. And, when they stay at a seedy hotel, she doesn't even mind opening her door dressed only in a towel when the man is drunk and lascivious. And, oh, she also accepts his offer of sleeping with him (not once but thrice!) when her money is stolen. Every once in a while, there comes a film that makes you go 'Am I really seeing this?' and Netru Indru is that kind of film — a film so bad that it's good. It is unashamedly crass, exploitative and downright sexist. The camera always moves lustily over the contours of the bodies of the two heroines, who are given the skimpiest of outfits; at least, Manochitra is given a knee-length skirt and a top, but all that Arundhati has is a sleeveless vest that somehow manages to stretch to her thighs (it's not much different from Vadivelu's costume in the popular comedy scene in Vetri Kodi Kattu). The performers are all terrible; Vemal sleepwalks through his role while Richard seems indifferent even when he has stepped on a landmine. The only one who manages to actually act and walk away from this debris honourably is Prasanna, but his sincerity seriously looks out of place. Maybe, that is why the director felt obliged to add the 'Special Appearance' tag to his name in the credits.