Nanban

Nanban (2012) is a Tamil comedy-drama directed by Shankar, streaming online on iFILM. Two old college friends reunite, only to realize their third companion — the most spirited of the three — vanished the day they graduated and hasn't been heard from since. They hit the road to find him.

The search becomes a journey through memory: dormitory chaos, a dean built like a wall, a girl one of them had no business falling for, and an old bet with a campus rival that was never settled. Along the way they stumble through a funeral that spins comically out of control and crash a wedding they have no invitation to. Vijay leads the cast, with Jiiva, Srikanth, and Ileana D'Cruz filling out the college years that keep coming back to them.

At 181 minutes, Shankar is in no hurry — and the film earns the runtime by putting real weight behind the laughs. The comedy is a wrapper for an argument about what exam-obsessed schooling costs the people it's supposed to educate. Stream Nanban online on iFILM.