Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum: Bringing Malayalam Cinema back to its former glory

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum Movie Review 

There was a time when the script was the hero of a Malayalam movie.  Then came the setting of the movie - usually some village or town in the Kerala , characters who are everyday but add flavour and situations that make us feel part of that milieu and the smart screenplay that made us understand the socio-economic fabric that created those situations. 


Situations like a family waiting to receive their relative who has come back from Gulf after working seven years but soon disowning him when they realize he is not going abroad again in 1989 Malayalam black comedy film Varavelpu ( Welcome) .  These were the classics a socioeconomic trend, a very believable family and characters who look normal but have their own schemes - not menacing characters. 

Thondimuthalum Drisksakshiyum begins with  an incident that wont even make to the papers. A petty thief steals a necklace while a woman was sleeping in a Kerala  bus between Vaikom and Kasargod.  ( if you have traveled in one, it usually jerks and twists enough to make this snatch happen). But the thief ( played well by Fahadh Fasil) swallows the necklace leading to a series of events at the police station. The police station is run by a lot of cops who are just struggling. The top cop wants to prove himself, there are old timers who are either sincere or just while away the time. The thief is given laxatives and asked to excrete it after a X-ray that reveals the necklace is in his stomach. The police keep vigil when he is doing ths. 
The woman whose necklace has been stolen is married to another struggler ( Suraj Venjaramodu's first lead actor role) and they are in the early stages of an intercaste marriage. The necklace was to be pawned and used to buy land for them to start their living. Everyone seems to be struggling to somehow put an end to this case , find the necklace and get on with their lives. That actually is THE plot. 
It may seem wafer thin but thats what the director does . Using the plot as a snippet , he draws the camera on to various aspects, the life in a 5-10 man police station just near a bus stand, how even a simple case takes its own time to get resolved,  a middle class couple waiting for the police process should they wait or take the easy way out of 'cutting a deal' with the thief.  It shows after a point for everyone , one trades off moral choice of right vs wrong based on circumstance and time on hands. ( more like a return on time framework). This is exemplified by the pathos for the character of the ASI (Alencier Lopez) in the station as well and not just the couple who have lost the chain. 
This kind of slowly built up situational frustration is also palpable in the chase of the thief and the husband who is not just losing a chain but the grip on the new life he was planning to lead. The chase is priceless and the way the characters enact that as well, it also makes for a great poster for the movie. 







The movie has won 2 national awards - Best Supporting Actor for Fahadh Fasil who steals the show with the performance of a petty thief who is cunning but everyday and Best Regional Movie. 
Dileesh Pothan the director of the movie deserves credit to back his conviction to make a  movie that is sure of itself and brings back memories of a glorious era of Malayalam cinema. 


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