‘Thekku Vadakku’ film assessment: This Vinayakan, Suraj Venjaramoodu comedy-drama checks the viewer’s persistence

A nonetheless from ‘Thekku Vadakku’

An acclaimed author penning the script and two strong performers taking one another head on in a narrative revolving round a long-running feud: Thekku Vadakku seems to have every part going for it. Even the trailer gives the look of an uncommon story with quite a lot of quirky, humorous parts. However all by means of the movie, one is left ready for it to reside as much as these first impressions, that are all finally proved flawed.

The unending litigation over petty feuds, which was once a sort of pastime for some from the older generations, turns into the central theme of Thekku Vadakku, directed by Prem Shankar. Based mostly on a narrative from S. Hareesh’s assortment ‘Adam’, it has Madhavan (Vinayakan), a retired authorities worker engaged in a authorized struggle over a bit of land with Shankunni (Suraj Venjaramoodu), who runs a rice mill. Their struggle, which rarely will get bodily, is a spectacle through which nearly everybody within the village is a keen participant.

The makers undertake a loud, satirical remedy for the topic. However when the humour doesn’t work and never even a lightweight chuckle escapes you, this remedy turns into a legal responsibility. It was a bit painful to observe the 2 actors indulging in over-the-top antics and struggling to elicit any laughter. Vinayakan brings stark adjustments to his look and manner in comparison with his ordinary roles, however the efforts are wasted and seem pressured. The identical issues might need labored in a special movie, however when even one of many wheels stops working, all the system can disintegrate.

Not as soon as does the movie make you are feeling the depth of their feud, nor does it ever handle to drag you into the center of the battle. For the matter, even their battle is barely vaguely conveyed, as one thing occurring for many years. Within the brief story, this vagueness concerning the origin of the feud works, however within the movie, it solely provides to the dearth of battle and the final absence of something that may hook the viewers.

At one level, when one of many protagonists indulges in a frenzied act within the absence of the opposite, the movie seems to be labouring to make a philosophical level, however this comes too late within the day to make any impression. There are at the very least a number of passages which give one the sensation that there was a superb movie mendacity untapped someplace inside; it’s a sense one will get from the partaking brief story on which it’s primarily based too.

If the intention was to convey the pointlessness of such egoistic feuds by making a film which struggles to make some extent, then the makers can contemplate their mission successful. One must have quite a lot of persistence to realize this beneficial lesson.

Thekku Vadakku is presently operating in theatres