THITTAM IRANDU (2021)
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| Critic No. 228 |
Director: Vignesh Karthick
Written by: Vignesh Karthick
Produced by: Sixer Entertainment Mini Studio
Casts: Aishwarya Rajesh, Pavel Navageethan, Gokul Anand, Subash Selvam, Ananya Ramprasad
Language: Tamil
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Music: Satish Raghunathan
SYNOPSIS:
A young cop, Athira (Aishwarya Rajesh) starts investigating the mysterious disappearance of her childhood friend, Deepa (Ananya). As the investigation progresses, shocking revelations are unveiled after another murder occurs in a similar fashion.
REVIEW:
Thittam Irandu kicks off with Aadhira (Aishwarya Rajesh), a police inspector bumping into Arjun (Subash Selvam), a young gentleman on a train. His actions and gestures soon make Adhira develop a crush on him and eventually fall in love with him in the latter part of the film.
Meanwhile, she is informed that her childhood friend Surya (Ananya Ramprasad) has mysteriously disappeared and starts investigating the case. Her husband, Kishore (Gokul Anand), a doctor, seems to be acting suspiciously, while a disabled person (Pavel Navageethan) is also brought into the custody of a second murder that happens a few days later. Gradually it is also revealed that Arjun seems to be involved in this mystery as well. Can Aadhira handle the revelations and be able to break the mystery?
Reading from the short synopsis, you can see that there are a lot of layers to the story and Vignesh Karthick brilliantly paces them well and stacks the conflicts for Aathira against her case. Though the film doesn’t have elaborate action scenes, you are kept at the edge of the seats as details of the murder are unveiled step by step. The mystery tone is very well sustained throughout until the last 30 to 40 minutes where things start getting convoluted.
In the latter half, the director starts to throw in different angles/stories from different people, trying to achieve a Rashomon effect that somehow looks slightly clumsy. As we are racing towards cracking the case, the big climatic twits kick in. I can easily say the majority of the audience would never be able to guess the twist as we are not even given a single clue on it from the start. In fact, after revealing the climax twist, we almost feel cheated as we are thrown off guard by an angle that looks abrupt though it discusses an important social issue. The open ending adds to the director’s dilemma to conform to his views, probably fearing a potential backlash from the ‘Indian’ audience he is targeting majorly at.
Aishwarya Rajesh anchors the film with her charisma while other supporting actors like Gokul (Chennai to Singapore (2016) fame) and Subash excels well in their roles to elevate the drama. Ananya’s role almost feels caricaturish and her loud performance sticks out like a sore thumb. Cinematographer Gokul Benoy’s low-key lighting enhances the mood of the film while Satish Raghunathan’s music seems strictly functional.
Due to the shift of tone in the last half hour, Thittam Irandu fails to grasp the full potential of the genre and slips slightly off track. Though the climax twist is super unexpected, the way it is injected into the narrative feels quite abrupt. That said, Thittam Irandu is still a decent watch for crime drama lovers.
VERDICT:
With good performances and pace, Thittam Irandu is an adequately made crime drama that staggers to sustain its tone at times despite its shocking climactic twist.
CELLULOID METER- 3/5:
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