Writers: Dominic Arun, Anil Narayanan
DOP: Deepak D Menon
Cast: Tovino Thomas, Balu Varghese, Neha Iyer, Santhy Balachandran
Language: Malayalam
Tovino and Balu Varghese plays the role of two traffic cops who gets suspended after their goof up in an unofficial operation. Tovino is living in with his girlfriend and is a slacker selfish kind of person who is in debt. They now take up another private detective operation which gets them into all sorts of situations meeting some 'interesting' characters.
The debut director's short film, which was in black and white, was heavily stylised and one would expect something similar. Especially so, when you see the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Edgar Wright, Robert Rodriguez, Guy Ritchie thanked among many others, in a list too long to read during opening credits. Surprisingly enough, it is the style that the film lacks and you just end up with a comedy of errors kind of storyline. Films of Edgar Wright and Guy Ritchie are characterized by their editing flourishes and very interesting transitions and we got something similar in Double Barrel, which bombed heavily at the box office. Maybe that experience have scarred all aspiring filmmakers from trying something as audacious style wise. Not to say that Tharangam is devoid of any as there are a few interesting things thrown around but not nearly enough for the genre that it is going for. It has enough laughs to be interesting enough for a kind audience. It is the sort of film that normal Malayalee audience won't have enough patience in a theatre watch but might enjoy when they try it on small screen with lowered expectations. Other films that could be compared with are Kili Poyi and Neram. Kili Poyi was attempted in the early days of new-gen wave and deserved appreciation then. We've come a long way since then and experimental films have kind of become the norm now.
Performance wise it is a good one overall and the combination of Tovino-Balu-Santhy works very well. But there is a one-noteness in Tovino's performance as he seems to be always on the edge. His character situation is such but some variation and subtlety could be brought. First half of the film goes on a fair clip but things get quite strained in the second half. Film ends with a very chaotic (not in a good way) kind of ending which was a characteristic of late 80s Priyadarshan films, another director that was thanked during the opening credits. Overall it is a compromise film between Priyadarshan and Guy Ritchie inspirations and ends up neither here nor there.
PS: Rock n Rolla train track chase scene idea is replicated here.
Rating: 2.75/5
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