Thudarum Review - A Solid Drama with Enough Thrilling Episodes!

Ashwin Ram

Thudarum is a dramatic thriller starring Mohanlal and Shobana in the lead roles. The film is directed by Tharun Moorthy and the music is composed by Jakes Bejoy.

Premise:

Mohanlal is a humble man who earns by driving a taxi. The situation gets chaotic with respect to his family when he had to go out of town for a day to attend his dearest person’s funeral. What happens after he returns back home forms the rest.

Writing/ Direction:

To begin with, it is a mere perfect film in terms of writing. All the knots have been tied beautifully and there is a purpose for every single existing scene. The story and the characters are layered, everything is steadily introduced one by one. Mohanlal's character being a stuntman back in the day trope is efficiently utilized to move the story forward and also during the fight sequences in the later half of the film. We tend to watch the initial family portions with a constant smile as the moments they share are presented through some lovely visuals. Some enjoyable Tamil movie references are induced and a tribute to the film stuntmen is done. Post the light-hearted opening stretch, the story neatly moves to a big episode involving a bunch of cops unwillingly travelling in Mohanlal’s car. The screenwriting of this particular stretch is made very naturally, the genre shifts are super coherent, the tension keeps on building and peaks at the interval. After the terrific setting, there is no stopping this solid flick which continues to provide legit thrills. The approach is a fine blend of realistic drama with a commercial punch, the director has rightly incorporated mass elevations within the subject. The villain characters are strong which remarkably raises the quality of the screenplay, the reasoning is thoroughly satisfying as well. The emotional quotient clicks and provides goosebumps towards the end, the valid family backstory is also one of the valuable assets of the storytelling here. Downside, runtime is an issue and a couple of lengthy stretches could have been paced up rather than trying to exhibit even the minute angles of the script in a detailed manner. The progression route is not smart like Drishyam, yet all the plot-points are cleverly stitched and it has more of an action and reaction driven structure.

Performances:

Such a commendable all-round performance from Mohanlal, underplay till halfway and Adipoli-play after that. He gets to showcase some whistle-worthy heroism in addition to being a grounded human who emotes and fights for his family. Shobana does well, though not full-fledged, she is a decent part of the substance and shares some cute moments with Mohanlal. The Police officers carry themselves in a creepy style which superbly suits the tone of the story. Bharathiraja plays a key role and Vijay Sethupathi just through photos enjoy an impactful presence in the script.

Technicalities:

Technically a stunning film by all means, pretty good songs that are translated into cherishing montages. Powerful background score that amps up the tension in the situations and drama around the characters. Outstanding cinematography that takes the visual storytelling to the next level, well-planned framing and execution of shot compositions. Seamless editing when the story just flows and keeps transforming into something else, just that there could have been like 10 minutes trimming on the whole. Superlative stunts that covers the heroism element and justifies the fact that Mohanlal was once a stuntman in the story.

Bottomline

No character exists without a purpose and there is a solid reasoning for every scene out there. Neat story presented with utmost conviction in screenwriting, topical execution too. Minor flaws with lengthy duration, thankfully they don’t affect much.

Rating - 3.25/ 5