‘Nagendran’s Honeymoons’ Review: Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Passable Comedy Series Is Salvaged by Its Sublime Cast (LatestLY Exclusive)

Nagendran's Honeymoons Review: Nagendran's Honeymoons is the fourth original Malayalam series backed by Disney+ Hotstar. Apart from Kerala Crime File, which was an investigative thriller, the other three series - Master Peace, Perilloor Premier League, and now Nagendran's Honeymoons - are all comedies. All these series boast some fine actors in the cast and surprisingly impressive lighting and framing. Yet, the comedy shows also suffer from a common flaw - they feel like movies extended over multiple episodes, making the lag noticeable because the content doesn't support the runtime. Nagendran's Honeymoons suffers significantly from this issue. ‘Nagendran’s Honeymoons’: Here’s When and Where To Watch Suraj Venjaramoodu Starrer Malayalam Comedy Series Online.

Despite being titled Nagendran's Honeymoons, there is no 'honeymoon' in the show, but there are plenty of weddings. The series is set in the late '70s, where we meet Nagendran (Suraj Venjaramoodu), a lazy man who rarely goes to work, much to the annoyance of his mother (Naniyamma). When he sees his Kuwait-returned friend Poulose (Ramesh Pisharody) welcomed back to the village with much respect and reverence, Nagendran also wants to go to Kuwait. When he rescues Poulose from a sticky situation, the latter agrees to help him go to the Gulf, but Nagendran has to shell out 10,000 rupees for the visa.

With no money at home, Soman (Alexander Prasanth), another friend, advises him to marry his besotted fiancée Janaki (Alphy Panjikaran) and demand a dowry. Nagendran marries her, but he doesn't get the dowry he demanded. Realising he is trapped in this marriage, Nagendran escapes from the village with Soman. Needing money, Soman makes Nagendran travel to various places and change identities while getting married to local women so that they can exploit the dowry. Nagendra's brides include Lilykutty (Grace Antony), a mentally disturbed heiress; Laila (Shweta Menon), a Muslim woman with a murky past; Savithri (Niranjana Anoop), a pregnant Brahmin girl; Thankam (Kani Kusruti) a prostitute, and Mozhi (Ammu Abhirami), a Tamil girl with family issues.

Watch the Trailer of 'Nagendran's Honeymoon':

With each marriage, Nagendran's financial issues and other problems don't reduce but only multiply. He and Soman are also being chased by Varkey (Kalabhavan Shajon), a cop who happens to be the brother of one of Nagendran's unfortunate brides. What's more, Nagendran falls for one of these brides, which proves to be his ultimate undoing.

‘Nagendran’s Honeymoons’ Review - What Works

Nagendran's Honeymoons is written, produced, and directed by Nithin Renji Panicker, best known for directing Mammootty's infamous cop-thriller Kasaba. Kasaba was criticised for its blatant display of sexism and misogyny, which makes Nagendran's Honeymoons, despite its tricky subject, a relief somewhat as there is not much machismo or sexism on display here. The protagonist is a spineless dweeb whose actions border on despicability, but you end up feeling bad for him at times. That doesn't mean Panicker gets his women characters right.

Nagendran's Honeymoons starts on a promising note, establishing Nagendran's lackadaisical life and his equation with his friends, and why he suddenly wants to go to the Gulf. The character is hardly anything new for Suraj - I found his role to be similar to what he had done in the underrated 2023 film Madanolsavam - but the actor's restrained act and his myriad expressions make Nagendran an interesting enough character that by the least, you are not repulsed by him. The show gets better with the second episode, introducing us to Varkey and his sister, Lilykutty, who becomes Nagendran's second wife after marrying her as 'Joseph'. Even that marriage doesn't improve his funding for his Gulf visa and he escapes from there.

‘Nagendran’s Honeymoons’ Review - Where It Falters

However, from there on, this marry-and-run becomes more of a template for the show and its protagonist, as Nagendran and Soman jump from one village to another, finding a bride for Nagendran easily within a couple of days. There is a message somewhere about families' desperation to get their daughters married, but the repetitive nature of the screenplay and some forced melodrama kill that intention. The episodes involving Laila and Savithri particularly act as major speed-breakers for the series. One of the episodes even deals with domestic abuse, but that, ultimately, felt like a gap-filler than anything substantial for the character or the show.

Things improve for a bit in the Thankam episode, as it brings back some humour to Nagendran's Honeymoons. It was funny to watch Nagendran's incredulity at seeing the youngsters of Thankam's village fervently collecting contributions for her marriage to him so that she could stay in the village. However, after a point, the humour runs dry even in this episode - there is a limit to the comedy milked out of seeing Thankam being visited by her customers while Nagendran waits outside.

The final episode has a few twists and turns, not that they make much sense when you think hard about them. A certain major twist actually reminded me of a con-caper film in Malayalam, where Jagathy Sreekumar and Sreenivasan played the main leads.

‘Nagendran’s Honeymoons’ Review - The Fine Cast

What saves Nagendran's Honeymoons to some extent is its cast, which boasts fine actors like Venjaramoodu, Shweta Menon, Kani Kusruti, Janardhanan, Grace Antony, Kalabhavan Shajon, and so on. Not every actor gets much scope - perhaps this was shot before Premalu, but I was astounded to see its breakout star, Shyam Mohan, restricted to only a couple of scenes with minimal impact. Perilloor Premier League Review: Nikhila Vimal and Sunny Wayne's Malayalam Web-Series Bring the Laughs on an Overstretched Turf!

The female protagonists were simply restricted to one episode (and one scene later), and we never get to see the repercussions of Nagendran's betrayal on them. Yet, among the ladies, Grace Antony and Kani Kusruti still managed to stand out. Grace's performance reminded me a lot of Kalpana and the kind of funny energy she used to bring to some of the '90s comedy; Grace is quite the standout in the second episode. She is particularly funny in the first night scene and later when she tries to seduce her husband right when he is going to attend a 'funeral'.

Kani Kusruti brings enough sauciness as the salacious Thankam. Among the supporting cast, Alexander Prasanth excels as Nagendran's wily friend, who is equally trapped in the protagonist's situation.

‘Nagendran’s Honeymoons’ Review - Final Thoughts

The wait for Disney+ Hotstar to deliver a consistently funny Malayalam series just got longer as Nagendran's Honeymoons turned out to be an average affair. There was promise for sure, thanks to a capable cast, led by a dependable Suraj Venjaramoodu, and an intriguing setup. However, its repetitive narrative, forced drama and lack of depth in character development, particularly for the female characters, not only hinders its potential but also impacts its humour and pacing.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2024 08:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).