Long before Vijay entered politics and became one of the biggest stars of Tamil cinema, he shocked the audience with a very different role in ‘Nanban’. The film was a Tamil remake of Bollywood hit ‘3 Idiots’ starring Aamir Khan. Even today, ‘Nanban’ remains one of the most loved remakes in Indian cinema. Amid the buzz these days about a ‘3 Idiots’ sequel, many are reminiscing about Vijay’s wonderful portrayal of Panchavan Parivendhan or Pari. This role brought out the emotional, intellectual and sensitive side of the actor.
Vijay’s Panchavan brought fresh Tamil flavour
Vijay did the Tamil rendition of the iconic character Rancho, played by Aamir Khan in ‘3 Idiots’. Like Rancho, Panchavan questioned the education system and believed that learning should be done out of curiosity rather than fear. But Vijay made a remarkable difference in this portrayal with his touch. Although Rancho and Panchavan were intellectually brilliant, Panchavan seemed more energetic and fun than Rancho. the director S. Shankar he made some changes for tamil audience in this movie.
Friendship and emotions became the soul of ‘Nanban’
Vijay, Jiiva and Srikanth’s friendship was one of the strongest points of the movie ‘Nanban’. The relationship between these three characters resembled that of Rancho, Farhan and Raju in the Hindi version of the film. The female lead of the film was played by Ileana D’Cruz, who played the same role as Kareena Kapoor Khan in ‘3 Idiots’. Famous actor Sathyaraj he played the role of strict boss, the role he played at first Boman Irani In ‘3 Idiots’.
‘Nanban’ proved that good stories have no language barrier
However, despite being very similar to the original story of ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Nanban’ established its own individuality. Many scenes from the original film were repeated almost verbatim; however, Vijay’s screen presence imbued the film with freshness. The plot revealing Panchavan’s true identity and subsequent fame as a con man was perfectly acted in Tamil. In addition, ‘Nanban’ was a huge commercial success and was rumored to have grossed over 150 crores. Above all, it showed how powerful the idea of a good story about friendship and ambition can be in any language.
