Naam 2003

Naam is a 2003 Indian Tamil costume drama film released on Sep 18, 2003. The film is directed by Sabha Kailash, produced by Prakash Raj.
Irfan Khan(Prakashraj), a dreaded terrorist, is all set to flee our country when the police hear of his plan and ambush him. He escapes but loses his brother in the resulting shootout. So he sets up an even more elaborate plan of hijacking a flight carrying an important minister('Pyramid' Natrajan), to get out of the country and needs the services of four youngsters to execute it. Four young men, who are disillusioned with their future and in desperate need of money, seem perfect for the job. Among movies that follow similar storylines filled with familiar sequences and cliched situations, Naam stands out because it has the courage to be different. It uses a topical idea(disillusion and frustration of poor youth) and expands on it with a story that is quite unique. It steers away from romance or a separate comedy track and its story is strong enough for it to do so without losing our interest. At the same time, it avoids the label of an 'art movie' by not dwelling on the situation of the four young men The movie boasts of a fantastic screenplay, atleast for the first half. It plays with our expectations very cleverly and does a great job of laying out red herrings (though eventually it turns out to be just one big one). The plot as it unravels comes as a very big surprise and by the end, the movie does a very good job of explaining and tying up loose ends. Having four unknown actors in the main roles also lends a sense of unpredictability as we are never sure how the movie will end.
Irfan Khan(Prakashraj), a dreaded terrorist, is all set to flee our country when the police hear of his plan and ambush him. He escapes but loses his brother in the resulting shootout. So he sets up an even more elaborate plan of hijacking a flight carrying an important minister('Pyramid' Natrajan), to get out of the country and needs the services of four youngsters to execute it. Four young men, who are disillusioned with their future and in desperate need of money, seem perfect for the job. Among movies that follow similar storylines filled with familiar sequences and cliched situations, Naam stands out because it has the courage to be different. It uses a topical idea(disillusion and frustration of poor youth) and expands on it with a story that is quite unique. It steers away from romance or a separate comedy track and its story is strong enough for it to do so without losing our interest. At the same time, it avoids the label of an 'art movie' by not dwelling on the situation of the four young men The movie boasts of a fantastic screenplay, atleast for the first half. It plays with our expectations very cleverly and does a great job of laying out red herrings (though eventually it turns out to be just one big one). The plot as it unravels comes as a very big surprise and by the end, the movie does a very good job of explaining and tying up loose ends. Having four unknown actors in the main roles also lends a sense of unpredictability as we are never sure how the movie will end. Check out this page for more updates on Naam.