Making a remake of movie as such is a gamble and when you talk about remake of a successful movie it raises the bar even more. First when i heard of the remake of 3 idiots, i was like who in their right minds would want to risk that. A number of movies have been remade from other languages and if you have watched the original one its tough to stop comparing the remake to the original. Nanban in particular falls in this category since its a scene by scene remake, however when i watched the movie i felt that they have done enough justice to the original . When one makes a movie, there are no boundaries however on a remake of such scale, one has to tread on a fine line. You over do it and get criticised for screwing up a good story and if ones fall short can be shotdown saying the same. Shankar as a director has done a brilliant job kudos to him for sticking to the original story line and most importantly for keeping his creativity under check.
Lead actors have also done a good job, its nice to see Vijay sans his heroics and punch dialogues. Jeeva fits the bill perfectly, however Srikant not so much. Satyaraj delivering english dialogues as part of his speech is alright. Illeana is a sore thumb, agreed she looks hot and nice but Kareena had something that she lacks. For the same screen time shared by both the actresses, Illeana falls short probably because the songs are a HUGE letdown. What was Harris smoking when he composed the tunes? Special mention to Sathyan as Silencer (Chattur in 3 idiots), his acting is commendable and brings out the humor just like the original.
Agreed Nanban is a remake of 3 idiots and 90 percent of those who have watched it might feel this is no better thnt the original. My take is, Shankar has not attempted to make it better but just recreate an AS-IS version of the movie and has been successful in the attempt. On a optimistic scenario, i assume maximum of 10-15% of people in Tamil Nadu would have watched 3 Idiots and for the rest this would be as good any new movie. I would rate amongst the recent tamil movies Nanban is definitely must watch. Wholesome family entertainer and a perfect example of an honest and successful attempt at remaking a popular movie.
If i want to be picky, its the character who commits suicide again music is to blame. Give me some sunshine song is a major differentiating factor between these two movies.
