Thrishanku
Introduction
Onto the next release of the weekend and I finished watching the new Malayalam film Thrishanku which is now streaming on Netflix. There is something about Malayalam films that have an uncanny knack to ace each and every genre in the book. The attention to detailing is immaculate and even when combining genres, they do not lose the tone of the drama. Having said that, Rom-Com as a genre is one of my favourites but such are the times of today that films in this genre don’t quite come easily. And so every time there is a film out in the genre, I am quite curious. With Thrishanku my expectations had multipled given that this was a Malayalam film as well. I knew nothing about its subject and what it had to offer and as is the case with me, I went into the film blind. So then does Thrishanku manage to impress, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
Thrishanku follows the story of a protagonist who decides to elope with his girlfriend until his plan is sabotaged by his sister who in turn elopes with her boyfriend. What happens next? The story here is absolutely hilarious with the situations that the characters find themselves in. This has much to do with some well written characters that fuel the narrative forward. The screenplay standing at a 110 minutes is taut and doesn’t overstay its welcome. And to top it, there are moments created that do make for a hilarious joyride.
The drama does open with the introduction of the two protagonists who do fall in love over a period of time. The first conflict begins with their parents not agreeing to their marriage given that they belong to different religions. This itself was an interesting premise to build on things but the writers go one level up in introducing another twist in the tale in the form of the sister of the protagonist eloping with her boyfriend on the same day when the couple plan to elope. This does result in some well written confusion featuring some very well etched out characters whose traits unfold over an unlikely roadtrip.
The proceedings are hilarious and engrossing wherein I found myself invested in the characters and their journey. The two cities of Coimbatore and Mangalore had a lasting flavour on the proceedings so much so that each played a character throughout the narrative. The beauty of the narrative did lie in creating moments of laughter through the situations which was such a joy to watch. I found myself chuckling uncontrollably and laughing hysterically through the turn of events. The bits of confusion between characters related to the identity of one of them further leads to comical situations. But what was fun to witness was the character traits of the characters which were designed to be diabolically opposite to each other, thus leading to laughter.
If I had to pinpoint a small little fault then it would be related to its final act which did work individually but was a little manipulative with its approach. Having said that, it did lead to an absolutely hilarious final act, first at the police station and second when the chase was on. The moments created in these two scenes had me laughing to no bounds thus summing up the screenplay which was hilarious to the core from start to finish, with never a dull moment.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are quirky and hilarious even though there wasn’t an effort made to make you laugh. Just the writing was so impressive with its situations that everything fell in place as far as the humour quotient of the film was concerned. The music and BGM go wonderfully well with the mood of the drama. The cinematography captures the vibes of the two cities really well. Even certain comedy scenes have some interestingly set frames. The editing is crisp and sharp. Director Achyuth Vinayak does a magnificent job by trusting his skills to create a situational comedy. The best part about his direction was that there wasn’t an effort shown in creating humour, something that did make the drama engaging and enjoyable.
Performances
The performances are outstanding by the ensemble cast. Shiva Hariharan as Alex and Balaji as Lakshman have their moments to shine. Krishnakumar as Robin does evoke sentiments of intimidation in a job well done. Fahim Safar as Franko is hilarious and does such a good job with the comedy. Zarin Shihab as Sumi has a good screen presence and does a fine job.
Suresh Krishna as Biju and Nandhu as Chandrahasan have such brilliantly written goofy characters, both diabolically opposite each other, that they automatocally make you laugh from the get go. Every time they were on screen, I had such a great time laughing hysterically. Anna Ben as Megha is back to her charming self and she is excellent here in a nicely restrained character. Arjun Ashokan as Sethu is spot on with his comic timing and he absolutely ruled the roosts with his mannerisms and his goofy sense of humour.
Conclusion
Thrishanku is a hilarious Rom-Com from start to finish that makes for such an enjoyable watch. Available on Netflix.