Nagendran's Honeymoons Series Review: Suraj Venjaramoodu makes it a navigable affair with sporadic laughs

Set in the late 70s, Nagendran's Honeymoons begins with Nagendran (Suraj Venjaramoodu) and Soman (Prashanth Alexander) escaping from an ordeal. An exasperated Nagendran declares that he is done with the sham, but Soman insists that they do it one last time. Cut to a flashback several months earlier, we see how it all began. Hailing from Vellayani, a quaint village on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, Nagendran is a 30-something freeloader who is of little help to anyone, including his mother, who manages to feed him daily. We are also introduced to his go-to friend, Soman, a small-time theatre actor who also brokers marriages to make ends meet. Like many entitled Keralites of that era who became enamoured by the idea of leaving the country somehow, after seeing the return of people who had made it big abroad, especially the Persian Gulf countries, Nagendran also finds this his ticket to a respectable life.

Director: Nithin Renji Panicker
Cast: Suraj Venjaramoodu, Prashanth Alexander, Grace Antony, Shwetha Menon, Kani Kusruti, Niranjana Anoop, Alphy Panjikaran, Kalabhavan Shajohn
Streamer: Disney+ Hotstar

Soman pushes Nagendran to marry his uncle's naive daughter, Janaki (Alphy Panjikaran), in the hope of cashing in on the dowry money to fund his plans to go abroad. However, things do not go as planned, and Soman devises a contrived scheme where Nagendran will marry multiple women under false pretences. The manner in which Suraj brings out the vulnerability and awkwardness of this apathetic man-child has a compelling charm to it. Even though we hardly get to know why Nagendran is the way he is, aside from a passing reference to his father who ran away from the family, the actor still makes it compelling enough to convey the pointlessness of his passive existence, especially when it all comes crashing down for the protagonist.

Apart from being a light-hearted drama that offers sporadic laughs, Nithin Renji Panicker's miniseries also appears to engage in social commentary subtextually, albeit in a superficial manner. It touches upon various topics such as patriarchy, the dowry system, and the establishment of arranged marriages, which undermine the agency of women in general—issues that remain relevant even today. Aside from the pilot episode, which sets the narrative at a languid pace, the remaining episodes show Nagendran marrying women from different social backgrounds, each of whom is affected by societal pressures in one way or another. The second episode, featuring an excellent Grace Antony as Lillikutty—an eccentric woman from an aristocratic Christian family—elicits the most laughs. The first meeting between the hyperactive Lillikutty and the jumpy Nagendran (under a fake identity) is a riot, vaguely reminiscent of Urvashi from Kadinjool Kalyanam (1991), as the former enthusiastically describes how she envisions their life together. However, one moment in this episode that normalised an unacceptable act for comedic relief didn't sit well at all.

The following episode has a fierce lady, Laila (an effectively assertive Shwetha Menon), who is doggedly trying to rebuild her life after serving a sentence for killing her cheating husband in an act of self-defence. “If you treat me nicely, I will be nice to you as well,” says Laila cosily to an anxious Nagendran during their first night together. The shift in Shwetha's expression after painfully recounting Laila's undesirable past beautifully showcases the character's prospect of finally leading a peaceful life. The actor also performs a well-choreographed action sequence in this episode, which she aces.

The rest of the episodes is scant in providing laughs as the protagonist starts dealing with the consequences of his repeated offences. The pacing also suffers, because of the redundancy of the proceedings in the portions with Niranjana Anoop and Kani Kusruti at the centre. Even though Niranjana's performance is adequate, the writing concerning her character as a young woman with a premarriage pregnancy hardly brings anything to the table. Also, the stereotypical portrayal of Kani as a prostitute leaves a lot to be desired. As an omnipresent figure in the series, Prashanth makes good use of his screen time, competently portraying a buddy you wouldn’t want in your life.

On the technical front, Nagendran's Honeymoons is rich with exquisitely toned visuals by Nikhil S Praveen, exploring different rural terrains across Kerala. The production design and art department also contribute significantly, having fully understood the assignment of recreating the bygone era when actor Jayan ruled the roost in Malayalam cinema. Ranjin Raj's background score deliberately adopts an old-school approach in terms of the arrangements, reminiscent of the legendary composer Johnson's works from the 80s, and it blends well with the mood of the narrative.

Despite overstaying its welcome due to missteps in Nithin's writing and pacing in its latter episodes, Nithin's debut in the web series format is a navigable affair, especially for Suraj's brilliant act, the ensemble it has put together, and the way it looks.