Next Enti - Movie Review

Next Enti?, starring Sundeep Kishan and Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead, is out in the theatres this Friday.  Let's find out what works and what doesn't for the movie.

Story:

Tammy (Tamannaah Bhatia) wishes to have a soulful relationship with a guy she can share everything with. For her, commitment means everything. Brought up to think that physical beauty is not everything (Sharath Babu plays her unconventional single parent), she takes her sweet time to get along in a relationship.

In contrast, Sanju (Sundeep Kishan) almost looks for short-term relationships. Six months into a relationship with the girl, he wants to thicken the relationship by having sex with her. When she refuses, it's a full stop.    

With Larissa Bonesi in the hero's life, and Krish (Navdeep) in the heroine's life, there happen some changes in the way the lead pair thinks. What are the changes? Will it all be a happy ending for the two?

Analysis:

'Next Enti' is told like a conversational love story. Director Kunal Kohli has made it into a festival of endless conversations. These conversations happen between the lead pair, between the heroine and her father, between the heroine and her friend (Poonam Kaur's hairdo makes her look like a fantastical creature in a horror-fantasy), the heroine and a middle-aged businessman (Navdeep).

What are these conversations about? They are not just about their lives. They are about everything and every one of us, boys and girls of this generation. The characters bombard us with the worst sort of generalizations about men and women. It would have been good had such conversations been restricted to the first half of the first half. But the entire film is in the same tone.  

The film begins on Tamannah’s character speaking directly (breaking fourth wall) to the audience about what women want and what men want as she walks through streets of London. Film is set in London. While she is having conversation with her friend (Poonam Kaur) at a table in a restaurant, Sandeep approaches her and makes a conversation with her and he lectures about what men think, what women do.

Tamannaah and Sundeep Kishan separately look at the audience to tell about their feelings, fears, insecurities, men and women. A lengthy conversation, a lifeless monologue, a montage song - this is how the film goes on and on.  

The characters are not relatable mainly because it's all too cold. They never get too emotional, but are always ready to become orators. There are no villains in the love story. If there is no enemy, it's the finicky nature of either the boy or the girl or both.

The Navdeep-Tamannaah track comes with childish jokes. Sundeep Kishan goes missing for a good part of the first half. The good part here is that the father-daughter relationship is given some refreshing take. But it must be added that the length of this track should have been curtailed.  The way Tammy expresses her concerns would have been lovable had it been candid.  Over indulgence is what drags down the impact.  

Sundeep Kishan goes over the top in some scenes. Tamannaah bores after a point because she is there throughout the film, in almost every scene. Larissa is good and Navdeep is OK in just one scene.

Music by Leon James is too niche. Maneesh Chandra Bhatt's visuals pass muster. Set in London, the cinematographer gets to showcase the city, especially because the lead pair keep walking and walking.

Bottom-line: A wafer thin story with some cliched elements and boring conversations. This is 2-hour dialogue-thon.