Tovino Thomas has once again proved his prudence in selecting threads that stand out. Crafted more in the mould of a new generation movie, debutant Director T.P. Felini could feel satisfied with his first effort.
But when it comes to overall quality the film fell short by some margin compared to the films of its genre like Thondimuthalum Driksashiyum or Maheshinte Prathikaram. Now let’s analyse a few positives and vice-versa.
In his third film, script writer Vini Vishwa Lal seems to be more confident in building up the film around the key thread of a chain smoker who tends to forget handing over the auspicious thread, mangalya sutra, to the father of his bride-to-be, but never forgets his pack of cigars.
Tovino as Bineesh has done justice to his role as an irresponsible village guy. To the success of the scriptwriter, smoking was intelligently used in all key frames in the film, but was never the subject that takes the film forward.
Kissing was another important tool used by the script writer to make the audience understand about the depth of love between Bineesh and Devi (Samyuktha Menon). From being pushed away due to the smell of cigar, the protagonist won in the end through a lip lock ... and the frame said it all...In the context of the film, the frame really made some real impact. Kudos to the director and the script writer.
The attempt to position the hero as a chain smoker from birth fell on its head as the occasion was too serious to experiment the elements of magical realism, if at all it was intended. The director had again relied on magical realism to bring the twist in the plot through a car accident to the incumbent MLA Balachandran (Shammi Thilakan).
The political satire which unfolded later was something Malayalam films have witnessed from the late 70s or early 80s. Those who adore the films of Padmarajan and K.G George can instantly relate those cliché scenes to some cult classics or in other words it looked like an attempt to serve old wine in a new bottle.
The sparing use of magical realism resulted in swinging the mood of the film, and the attempt to accommodate Blue Whale Game in the script set in a rural background, was truly a displaced attempt to say the least. May be the true difference in highly successful new generation films and Theevandi is the consistency in the treatment given to the frames.
Cinematography by Gautam Sankar and music by Kailas Menon were truly outstanding. All supporting cast including Suraj Venjarammodu and Surabhi Lakshmi were equal to the challenges demanded by their roles. Despite Theevandi getting derailed here and there, the debutant director has come out with something he and his crew can feel proud of.
( The writer is a film critic and brand consultant based in Kochi.)