Tharangam Review: Explored a new genre; Experimental but worth a watch
One among the releases that had released last day here in Kerala was Tharangam starred by Young Star Tovino Thomas. It was directed by debutant Dominic Arun and was produced by none other Dhanush, the Tamil Star, under his banner named Wunder Bar Films and Mini Studio. It is a crime comedy movie in which Balu Varghese also plays an important character along with Tovino Thomas. This is the first ever production venture of Dhanush in Malayalam. New face named Shanthi played the female lead character in this movie.
The plot of this movie revolves around the characters played by Tovino Thomas and Balu Varghese. Tovino Thomas and Balu Varghese play two suspended police officers named Pappan and Joy. They got suspended after a secret mission fails and results in the death of an officer played by Manoj K Jayan. Pappan needs a lot of money to get out from some issues in which he got trapped and while trying to make some huge money, he and Joy get into some serious troubles.
At first, we have to discuss the positive points in this movie. Even though the story idea is not that fresh, the way they conceived this concept and presented it before the audience made it worth a watch. It is a kind of experimental movie. The comedy portions worked out really well and the performances from both Tovino Thomas and Balu Varghese are the real highlight of this film. They complimented each other really well on screen. The making style speaks volumes about the caliber of the debutant named Dominic Arun as a director and he became successful in telling the story in a very different manner.
But what really affected this movie was its screenplay. Even though they presented it in a different manner, it lacked the punch in many areas. Even after creating so many comical situations in the plot and even after almost every one-liners and situation worked out well, the film moved forward at a slow pace. There was a fantasy element in the plot as well. It looked fresh but that too slowed down the movie from the very beginning. Confusion comedies work out better when the plot moves forward rather quickly and in a colorful manner.
Visuals from Deepak D Menon was great and music from Ashwin Renju was decent. Editing could have been better from Sreenath S, considering the lack of pace in the narration of this flick. Technically it is a very good movie, but it gives us the feeling that something is missing somewhere. Artists like Shanthi, Alencier, Manoj K Jayan, Shammy Thilakan, Dileesh Pothan, Saiju Kuruppu, Vijaya Raghavan etc also done their part very well. The director kept a surprise for the audience in this movie as well.
In total, Tharangam is a decent flick and you will like it if you love experimental movies. It offers entertainment for sure, but you have to be a bit more patient here to sit through.