Thambi

The concept of a thriller weaved around a family was least explored in Indian cinema. Jeethu Joseph gave it a new lease of life with the Malayalam blockbuster, ‘Drishyam’ in 2013. The movie was not only successful in Kerala but had a pan Indian appeal as it was remade in many other Indian languages. The director’s latest ‘family’ thriller ‘Thambi’ brings in a similar plot with Jyothika and Karthi playing siblings!

Politician Gnanamoorthy (Sathyaraj) struggles and finds his son, Vicky (Karthi) who has been missing for 15 years. His daughter, Parvathy (Jyothika) is reluctant about his return, though others in his family are happy. It is soon revealed that Vicky has been sent to loot Gnanamoorthy’s properties and elope with it when he has a chance. And then things start to take a twist as the plot gets murkier and we find out that the rot runs right into the family.

The first half of the movie was lazily paced and was formulaic with a hero introduction number and some run-of-the-mill family sentiments. We feel the Kerala ethos that the director subconsciously has imbibed with the hilly terrain and the small-town milieu against which the plot traverses.

There were some unnecessarily inserted sub-plots like the fight for the right of the land of the tribals and the power struggle between friends. Except for the characters of Sathyaraj, Karthi and Jyothika, the others were either not well established or their significance seemed underwhelming. For instance, the character of Bala as Karthi’s friend could have been more interesting but felt underwritten. The same could be said with Ilavarasu’s role as the wicked inspector.

However, the trio of Sathyaraj, Jyothika, and Karthi was impressive and did justice to their respective roles. The screenplay could have been tighter with few editions in songs and unwanted action sequences. The emotional scenes were not well written and the lines were falling flat as we could guess what would be in store.

Govind Vasantha’s music and background score were average at best. The movie did not have much scope for technicalities. However, the production value of the film was decent and made the movie look neat and tidy without unnecessary bells and whistles.

The movie which is positioned as a perfect family entertainer with some loaded thrills failed to realize its full potential mainly due to a sagging screenplay and the plot that seems to be plucked from Jeethu Joseph’s past blockbuster. The love between siblings sadly stays on the paper and doesn’t transform onto the big screen!

Verdict: Below Average!

Rating: 2.25 / 5