Nagendran’s outburst by the river, that Nagendran’s Honeymoons begins with, is a bit that is scraped out from the last episode and placed in front of the first in the Malayalam web series that released last week. Suraj Venjaramood, playing the title character, lets all the emotions come off his face and body, and you realise why as the show takes you through the incidents that lead up to his outburst. You see a mellowed down version of the riverside Nagendran, a man who hardly talks, let alone emotes – except when he sees or hears any mention of food. It has to be all that pent-up emotion that tumbles out of him by the sixth and last episode of the limited series.
Even with the six different female leads that each of the episodes showcases, Nithin Renji Panicker’s show becomes an intriguing character study of the hard-to-fathom Nagendran, especially when he is placed next to his expressive friend Soman, played by an extremely talented but underrated Prasanth Alexander. If you are looking for a short review, the show is interesting, can get tiring at times, but is made well enough to merit a complete sitting when you compare it with most others in the still-budding storytelling format of web series.
Nagendran – called Nagappan by those close to him – is introduced as a slacker who sleeps in late, eats off his elderly mother’s hard-earned income without the slightest bit of gratitude, and lights up at the sight or sound of food. That’s about all there is to know about Nagappan, it would seem. He does not take an interest in anything, not even in the vices that such slackers are generally associated with– alcohol, smoking, or lewdness. Nagappan is not interested in human beings at all, he appears to have no feelings for his mother or his cousin – whom he is expected to marry according to customs of the time.
The show is set in 1978, and the art department makes sure that those yearning for a lost era get their due. But the script (also by director Nithin) does not linger on the politics of the time or even the music. Only, the Malayali’s love for ‘Gulf’, then very much the way of life, is absorbed.
The second time you see Nagappan light up, after the promise of a hearty meal at a friend’s place, is when ‘Persia’ is mentioned. Paulose (a refreshing Ramesh Pisharody) has just returned from Kuwait and promises to help Nagappan find a job abroad. The rest of the series is about Nagappan and Soman’s “adventures” in making the money for the visa. That’s where the women come in. And Nagappan's many marriages. Dowry for visa, clearly a condemnable approach for making money, forms the central theme, but these characters are not exactly portrayed as the best of men; they aren't glorified, they aren't shamed, they are shown for what they are.
Nithin Renji Panicker, the director who wrote the infamously misogynistic lines in Kasaba, has come a long way in presenting women. The episodes are named after the women that come to Nagendran’s life, each from a different part of Kerala. Janaki (Alphy Panjikaran) is his cousin in his hometown, perhaps the most stereotyped of the lot of women, happy to marry this jobless, aimless relative who would not even look at her face, let alone show some feeling. There is more assertion in Nagappan’s mother, unafraid to tell him off when he acts unreasonable.
The whole picture changes, takes a topsy-turvy dive into the bizarre, when Lillykutty shows up on screen in episode 2. Her character with apparent mental health issues is not explained, but given a comical touch with exaggerated movements and behavioural changes. While it can be a questionable treatment, Grace Antony is simply fun to watch. And at least in this episode, Nagappan shows some emotion as he is shocked and scared by Lillykutty. It was also a pleasure to see Janardanan back on the screen after a gap, his familiar groans and croaks taking the side of the daughter (Lillykutty) every single time. Only, it was too much to see a 27 year old Grace play the 38-year-old Lillykutty.
But to make up for it, 50 year old Shweta Menon plays the female lead in episode 3, opposite the 40 year old character of Nagappan (Suraj is 48). This is another character Suraj is plain scared of and for good reason. His introduction to Laila is on the street where she is bashing up men and pointing a knife towards one. Suraj’s mildness works like a charm in the few lines he mutters (“right, she is going to beat me to death”). It may be deliberate that all around him are powerful and pushy characters, contrasting his meek and indecisive nature, without, apparently, a will or purpose in life. Every time he wants to run away from all the mess, Soman only has to nudge him to pull him right back in.
He lands up unsurprisingly in the fourth episode, Savithri, which must be the most badly made of the lot, unless the director comes out and says that it was meant to be a caricature. The episode has the done-to-death tropes of an “illam” (ancestral home of a Brahmin family) going to pieces, a cruel step-mother, and a young woman (Niranjana Anoop) bearing the brunt of it all. The dialogue, the tiresome background music, all lasts too long for it to be a satire. In fact, the music in the whole series is misplaced, appearing incongruously by the side of characters like a prop someone forgot to remove. But episode 4 takes the cake. It is almost a relief when Suraj finds himself in this mess with his poker face, untouched by any of the sob stories looming around him. He shows a touch of humanity to Savithri, letting us add to the precious little bits we can make out about the man.
Kani Kusruti’s episode, Thankam, is perhaps the least worrisome, but also perplexing, since we can’t quite make out if her character and the many men circling it are meant for comic relief. She plays a sex worker, and it is comforting that the director did not feel the need to fill in a sad backstory and explain her profession. Kani masters the role almost too easily, while we try to figure out what is going on.
Finally, we come to the outburst by the river and Nagappan lets you know he is not all hollow, there is something inside him, it just that he may need a few marriages in his life to let it come out. But Mozhi, the last episode, simply seems like an addendum the show could have done without. Yes, it is what brings the climax, and yes, Mozhi’s character puts an end to the never-ending loop of marriages. But the marriage itself seems pointless, given how the story ends. But let’s not give away spoilers and instead focus on the first revelation of feeling in the nonchalant Nagappan for another human being.
It seems almost out of character when he shows this side before Soman. Talking about Soman, we must spend a few moments to appreciate the depths of Prasanth Alexander. Until Purusha Pretham (a 2023 feature film by director Krishand) came, the actor had stayed on the periphery, undiscovered and doing the unnoticeable friend or brother. Krishand’s discovery of the actor’s potential may have brought him this role of Soman, a character juggling multiple jobs – theatre actor and marriage broker – who likes to have fun, seems easygoing and loyal to his friends. Prasanth makes him so real that you forget to take note of him, of the mannerisms and the easy conversational tones he brings to the character to remember that it is fiction. He has to take the trophy here.
** The series is streaming on Disney Hotstar **
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the producers or any other members of its cast and crew.