The most popular maxim when it comes to marriage in India has to be the one about uttering even a thousand lies to make a wedding happen. Honesty, then, isn’t a virtue that’s traditionally recommended in the institution of marriage. Directed by Thamar KV who co-wrote the film with Hashim Sulaiman, 1001 Nunakal is about the nature of truth and lies. Though we may automatically say that we prefer the former, can we really handle it? Perhaps Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men (1992) was onto something when he famously yelled, “You can’t handle the truth!”
1001 Nunakal is set in Dubai where the close-knit NRI Malayali community depends on each other in times of crises. An apartment fire triggers an impromptu get-together in a large mansion owned by Divya (Ninin Kassim) and Vinay (Vishnu Agasthya). Their friends – Salma (Shamla Hamza) and Mujeeb (Sajin Ali), and Sowmya (Anusha Shyam) and Rajesh (Sudeep Koshy) – who were staying in the burned down building, temporarily move to their home. Since Divya and Vinay are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary the next day, they decide to make an occasion of it by hosting a party, and invite their other friends too. And so, Bency (Rashmi K Nair) and Elwin (Sooraj K Nambiar), Alina (Vidhya Vijaykumar) and Joffy (Noufal Rahman), and their trouble-making lawyer friend, referred to as ‘Vakeel’ (Sudheesh Scaria), drop in.
The ‘outsider' in this cosy party is Indu chechi (Remya Suresh), the housekeeper, whose husband (Zhinz Shan) is in a spot of financial trouble. The events transpire over the course of two nights, and though the film isn’t of the thriller genre, the compelling writing pushes you to the edge of your seat. The dialogues flow organically with an unrehearsed ease, and this gives you a fly on the wall experience, observing the shifting moods and undertones as the party progresses.
The film has shades of Perfect Strangers (2016) which is also about a gathering of friends, relationships, and a game that goes wrong. The Italian film inspired Jeethu Joseph’s thriller 12th Man (2022), but beyond the similarity in the premise and a few plot threads, there are crucial differences between the two. For one, Perfect Strangers involves the characters sharing their messages and calls with the others in the room as they get them, while 1001 Nunakal is about the secrets that they voluntarily share. This makes it harder for the viewer to decide who is lying and who is telling the truth, since it falls upon the characters to choose and tell their stories. Moreover, Perfect Strangers delves into the nature of modern relationships (like Pradeep Ranganathan’s 2022 Tamil romcom Love Today) in the digital age while 1001 Nunakal is very much about the things that people tell each other in real life.
The film has a crowded cast with all of them almost always present in a scene, but the seamless screenplay, strong direction, smooth editing, and intelligent shot selection ensure that you understand each character — their personalities, motives and triggers. The film runs on conversation, and it’s only when emotions soar high that the background score kicks in. Otherwise, it’s the soothing clink of cutlery that you hear for the most part. This allows the viewer to listen without distraction as each character speaks, becoming involved in their deepest, darkest secrets.
Effortlessly, we are drawn into this small world that contains a mosaic of people — the men who’ve known each other for decades and the wives who joined the group, one by one. Alina is the latest and youngest addition. She’s the outspoken feminist who gets on the nerves of Salma and Sowmya who’ve been married for much longer and have made several “adjustments” and compromises to stay in their respective relationships. But Alina’s candour comes off as insensitive when she fails to read the mood of the room. Divya appears to be the most mature of the lot, but is she also shallow in some ways? Bency is quiet, almost invisible, till she lets loose and throws up a startling secret.
The men, too, have their share of insecurities and vulnerabilities, with their past intersecting with the present. Even though several issues come up in the discussions and debates that the characters have, none of it feels deliberate. The characters aren’t ‘types’ and emerge as real people, with all the actors on point in their performances. The absence of forced ‘wokeness’ is refreshing at a time when many OTT films and series have fallen by the wayside because of their eagerness to tick boxes.
Towards the end, it becomes impossible to tell the lies from the truth, as if it is destined that a marriage that begins with a thousand lies can only be sustained by a thousand and one lies. There are too few films that see potential in the drama of everyday life, the pathos in the ordinary, and that’s what makes 1001 Nunakal such a riveting watch.
1001 Nunakal is now streaming on SonyLIV.
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.
Sowmya Rajendran writes on gender, culture, and cinema. She has written over 25 books, including a nonfiction book on gender for adolescents. She was awarded the Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar for her novel Mayil Will Not Be Quiet in 2015. Views expressed are the author's own.