Nanban(literally meaning Friend) is the Tamil remake of Bollywood's 3 Idiots. The storyline, characters and theme is exactly the same as the Bollywood version but the unique touch of South Indian cinema deserved it's own attention.
Pari is a gifted student who loves engineering. Venkat wants to be a wildlife photographer yet due to his family obligations he studied engineering together with his buddies Pari and Senthil - comes from a poor family described as having come "straight from a melancholic Tamil epic" - decrepit father, long suffering mother, unmarried sister close to spinsterhood but he's extremely hardworking fellow. Senthil and Venkat were normal grade-hounding students until Pari comes along and teaches them the joy of learning and living life to it's fullest.
Actor Vijay
Actor Srikanth
Venkat Ramakrishnan. A rather clueless student who is very impressionable - seen with how he regards Pari very highly: even idolizes him. *bromance* cough *bromance*. After 3 years of wasting his life studying engineering, he finally gathered up the courage to open up to his father about his unwillingness to continue a career in engineering and he would be a lot happier doing what he loves. Guess who got a professional camera later that day? He is supposed to represent the child that is forced to study a course of his parent's choice because that's what had been decided for him since he was born.
My own story is that my both my parents wanted me to be a pediatrician(I don't even like kids!). Years later, Yours Truly was seen taking an honors Diploma in Counselling and currently pursuing a Degree in Psychology.
Actor Jeeva
Sevalkodi Senthil. Due to the pressure of wanting to provide a better future for his family, he jumped off the principal's building when asked to choose between him and Pari. In the meantime of him in a coma, he had time to reflect about his life, decisions and things that he had been doing wrong. Senthil is always seen praying and studying like a typical Asian kid as he is representation of a student trying his best to achieve his dreams but pressure of it all made it worse.
Actor Satyaraj
Virumandi Santhanam aka Virus. He got his name purely because of his existence. His stickler attitude and severe disciplinarian approach had cost him the life of a student and almost that of Senthil. Virus is the dean of the fictitious prestigious engineering school in India. He represents the typical Indian parent - child must either be a doctor or engineer or else he/she is worth nothing, utmost filialty is expected of the child and he(the parent) must have the final word for everything.
Actress Illeana D'Cruz
Ria Santhanam. She is Virus' daughter and I think she's pursuing gynaecology/obstetrician course. Pari broke her engagement to an irritating dandy, helped her send Senthil's father to the hospital and finally, falling for Pari.
Actor Satyan
Srivatsan (Silencer). Notorious for his gaseous emissions, he was named Silencer because...well, imagine you're studying....and all of a sudden there's an unearthly stench wafting around the room. His method of studying is the classic memorize word-to-word and passing all of them. Silencer has a fiercer rivalry with Pari for he strives to be better than Pari yet Pari always surpasses him for reasons known. =)
~*~
As someone who doesn't know a word of Hindi I found that the Tamil version was A LOT easier to comprehend. The jokes were funnier too in Tamil, the acting was more natural and down-to-earth and the atmosphere was more relatable to South Indian families like myself. Out of 10, this Tamil remake earns a full 11.
Nevertheless, the original Hindi version cast deserves their own mention.
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