Films with psychopaths and psychotic killers are rare in Tamil cinema since we prefer our bad guys to have solid motives and films with such people as the central characters are even rarer since we really like our heroes to be good and virtuous. Director Gautham Menon, who has previously made Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, a film in the first category, now gives us Nadunisi Naaygal, which falls in the second group. Part drama, part thriller, the film feels too insubstantial for the former and too slow for the latter.

While films that deviate just a little bit from the tried and tested route are immediately labelled as being experimental, Nadunisi Naaygal is a film that is truly experimental. Dealing with a dark theme, having a bad guy as the central character and not incorporating any songs are all aspects which would make a film experimental. But Gautham goes a step further, making a film with no background score at all. To his credit, we never miss it. By filming many scenes such that the silence seems natural and using natural sounds otherwise, we never notice the lack of a background score.

Samar is a young boy who underwent physical and sexual abuse by his dad at a very young age. He was saved by a kind neighbor Meenakshi(Swapna Abraham), who rechristened him as Veera and became his legal guardian. A grown-up Veera(Veera) is very attached to Meenakshi and after a horrific accident, the two of them move to Chennai. This is where he meets Sukanya(Sameera Reddy), his classmate when he was in school.

The film starts off with Veera's sad childhood, which firmly establishes the blame for how he turns out later. Though his actions are horrific, there is always some sympathy for him at the back of our minds since we know that what he is is because of the horrors of his childhood. So the film hovers between being a psychological thriller and a dark drama about an unfortunate man suffering from the scars of a bad childhood.

Between the two, the film is marginally more successful as a drama. Swapna's character is particularly well-drawn. As she struggles between being protective towards a child, battling her loneliness at night and trying to find a way out of an unhealthy relationship, her actions don't always have the best results though her intentions are good. In contrast, Veera's character is more straightforward as he goes from a frightened, jealous youngster to a psychopath and this transformation turns the film into a thriller from a drama.

But even after turning into a thriller, it is somewhat surprising that the film doesn't generate much suspense or tension considering the subject matter. The pace doesn't quicken even after Sameera enters the picture. This is because though she is kidnapped and then locked up, the film fails to convey her terror and helpnessless in a sustained fashion for any length of time. The sequence where she gets away but is then recaptured generates some suspense but apart from that, the film never gets our pulse racing at any time. As with most films in this genre, there is a twist but it is quite muted and doesn't have much of an impact.

Sameera Reddy is the only familiar face in the cast. She's not given much time to express the full horror of her situation but does look convincing in the few chances she gets. Veera gets the psycho act down well with the necessary tics and voice modulations. Swapna Abraham makes the best impression as she is very natural in bringing out all facets of her character.