Tuesday Sep 16 2008, Trivendrum

Review- ‘Thirakatha'

Directed by - Ranjith

Produced by - Ranjith, Maha Subair

Music by - Sharath

Casts - Prithviraj, Priyamani, Samvritha Sunil, Nishant Sagar, Jagathy Sreekumar, Arun, Mohini, Khushboo, Anoop Menon, Vineeth Kumar, Ranjith, Jyotsna etc.

Banner - Varnachitra Big Screen and Capitol Theatre

Here comes a movie that’s refreshingly different from most Malayalam movies that we have been seeing of late and also much different from any of scenarist-turned-director Ranjith’s earlier movies.Exquisitely scripted and delicately crafted, ‘Thirakatha’ takes us into the world of films and filmmaking on one level and on a deeper plane speaks of human relationships in a very sensitive manner.‘Thirakkatha’ recounts the happenings that take place when young filmmaker Akbar Ahmed (Prithviraj) journeys into the past to come up with material for his film, his second one after the highly successful ‘Brothers’.With all support from his sweetheart Devayani (Samvritha Sunil) and his friends (who are always by his side, whether it be in cinema or in the running of his restaurant ‘Casablanca’), Akbar Ahmed endeavours to dig up the past of Malavika (Priyamani), a highly successful actress who had reigned over hearts in the 1980’s and had later vanished without leaving a trace.Akbar focuses on the love affair that Malavika had with Ajayachandran (Anoop Menon), who was a struggling actor in the 1980’s and who later rose to superstardom.

Incidentally it is Ajayachandran who felicitates Akbar Ahmed during the 100th day celebrations of ‘Brothers’.Akbar Ahmed begins his exploration into the past by going through letters penned by Eby Kuruvila (Ranjith), a director who was a close friend to both Malavika and Ajayachandran and who had died in an accident years back.Eby’s letters of course help Akbar a lot in unravelling the past, but the more he unravels the past, the more he gets emotionally involved with the life of Malavika.And finally when he succeeds in tracing the whereabouts of Malavika, things change for young Akbar.He no longer wants to do the film that he had intended to do.

For him Malavika is no longer the subject of his research and exploration.The finesse with which Ranjith has worked out the situations is what makes ‘Thirakatha’ a wonderfully refreshing experience.The narrative, which moves between the past and the present and from monologue to monologue, is the main highlight of the film, which explores into the subtleties and complexities of human relationships in a very touching and sensitive manner.Ranjith has worked out the script in a wonderfully different manner and the way he presents the multilayered plot is highly appreciable.Performance-wise ‘Thirakatha’ belongs to Priyamani and Anoop Menon.

Priyamani, who won the National Award for her performance in ‘Paruthiveeran’, simply astounds us with her performance as Malavika.Anoop Menon, who is known more as a television star and who had of course acted in movies like ‘Kaattuchembakam’, ‘Moksham’, ‘Rock n’ Roll’ etc, does justice to the role of Ajayachandran.Prithviraj as Akbar Ahmed does his part remarkably well while Samvritha Sunil is refreshingly good as Devayani.Director Ranjith proves that he is a good actor too as he wins over our appreciation as Eby Kuruvila.M.

J.Radhakrishnan, the cinematographer who had mostly been doing low-budget arty movies, surprises us with his work.With able support from art-director Saburam and editor Vijay Shankar, M.J.Radhakrishnan succeeds in giving us the right kind of feel throughout the film, whether it be in the portions depicting the 1980’s or the sequences focusing on the present.

Sharath, the music-director who had earlier given us some lilting melodies in films like ‘Kshanakaththu’, ‘Pavithram’ etc, has done a good work of the music-composing for ‘Thirakkatha’.To sum up, ‘Thirakkatha’ is a film that stands out among the films that we get to see nowadays.Of course it won’t be difficult to point out the flaws, for example the melodramatic climax which could have been avoided etc, but still, ‘Thirakkatha’ is a film that deserves to be appreciated, seen and encouraged.