Nayyi Navelli Review: Yami Gautam Starrer Has Fantasy And Family, But It Is Not Entertaining

Title: Nayyi Navelli

Director: Balaji Mohan

Cast: Yami Gautam, Adinath Kothare, Anurag Thakur

Where to watch: In theatre

Ratings: 2 stars 

Nayyi Navelli Review: In the past few years, with films like Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga (OTT release), OMG 2, Article 370, and Haq, Yami Gautam has made a niche among the audience, and there's a kind of credibility attached to her name. The audience expects that a movie starring the National Award-winning actress would turn out to be good. So, when it was announced that Yami would be starring in a horror-comedy (earlier reports) titled Nayyi Navelli, we were quite excited about it. When the trailer of the film was released, the makers called it a Fantasy Family Entertainer. So, does Balaji Mohan's Hindi directorial debut entertain? Read on to find out...

The movie revolves around Mohini (Yami Gautam), who gets married to Raja (Adinath Kothare), but her brother-in-law Bantu (Anurag Thakur) always feels that there's something wrong with her as Mohini is sarvagun sampann. He thinks that Mohini is a daayan. So, is Mohini actually a daayan, or is there some other reason behind the special powers that she has?

Nayyi Navelli is written by Himanshu Sharma (story) and Divy Nidhi Sharma (screenplay), and directed by Balaji Mohan. The writers and the director have tried to come up with a fantasy, mythological action thriller along with comedy in it.

The first half of the film is dull; the makers have tried to make us laugh out loud, but the screenplay, dialogues, and direction are not up to the mark to tickle our funny bone. There are one or two scenes that might make you giggle, but the ROFL moments are clearly missing. Before the interval, the film takes the dramatic route and becomes a bit interesting, but still it doesn't offer the entertainment that we expected.

After the interval, the movie is a bumpy ride. While some scenes are good and keep us engaged to the screen, many scenes are dull like the first half and don't create any impact.

On paper, the concept of Nayyi Navelli would be amazing, but the makers have clearly failed to convert it into an entertaining film. The Ramayana angle could have been the strongest point of Nayyi Navelli, but Mohan fails to get it on the big screen interestingly.

Nayyi Navelli Review - Actors' Performances

Yami Gautam is looking gorgeous in Nayyi Navelli, and when it comes to dramatic and action scenes, she has nailed it. But during the light-hearted and witty moments, the actress fails to impress. It is not that she can't do comedy; we loved her in Bala and Dhoom Dhaam, but here the spark is missing.

Adinath Kothare has performed very well and leaves a strong mark with his performance. He is primarily a Marathi film actor, but here his UP accent is just perfect, and that impressed us a lot. Anurag Thakur grabs our attention with his act, and he brings in some laughter in the movie with his act.

Supporting actors Mita Vasahist, Sushmita Mukherjee, Sunita Rajwar, Sonal Jha, Aaditya Kulshreshth, and Prateek Pachauri are good in their respective roles. Jacqueline Fernandez's cameo will surely get a smile on your face.

Nayyi Navelli Review - Music

GV Prakash has composed the songs and the background score of Nayyi Navelli. While the score is decent, the song Phata Pataka grabs our attention the most.

Nayyi Navelli Review - FPJ Verdict

Overall, Nayyi Navelli surely had a nayi story, but the weak screenplay and narration make this film a below-average watch. While watching the film, many times we felt that there were scenes which could offer perfect mass moments, but those scenes fall flat. The film has fantasy and family, but sadly it fails to entertain us.