Director : Johny Antony
Cast : Mammootty, Charmme, Murali Gopy, Vijayaraghavan, Suresh Krishna, Kalabhavan Shajon etc.
Producer : Milan Jaleel
Music : Vidyasagar
Review By : Unni R Nair/ Kerala9.com
The way it started off, I felt ‘Thaapaana’ would be a thorough and colourful entertainer, like ‘Mayavi’. But as things progressed and as the tempo slackened, I started losing hope. Finally when it all ended, I felt it was an opportunity gone waste due to bad scripting and sloppy characterization. I now feel the film didn’t make an impact on my mind and would leave no lasting impressions.
Samson (Mammootty) is released from prison. Just as he comes out of the prison gates and gets ready to move on, he sees a woman prisoner (Charmme) coming out too. They don’t know each other, but Samson walks a few steps with her, talking this and that. Just then the lady gets knocked over by a passing vehicle and he rushes her to the hospital. He doesn’t know her name or whereabouts, so he gives her name there as ‘Marykutty’. Later, when she regains consciousness, he comes to know that her name is Mallika. The hospital authorities ask them to pay a big amount as the hospital bill. Samson and Mallika hoodwink the hospital authorities and escape at night, without paying the bill. It’s not safe for Mallika to travel back home alone and so Samson agrees to go with her. They tell each other their stories in the course of the journey. Samson meanwhile had developed a liking for Mallika, but his hopes are put out when Mallika tells him that she is already married and is going back to her husband Manikuttan (Murali Gopy). She had in fact gone to jail for having murdered someone in a bid to save Manikuttan’s life. Samson decides to take Mallika to her place, leave her there and go back to his life. But Destiny has something else in store for both Samson and Mallika.
The plot, developed from a short story penned by Ashapoorna Devi, is interesting enough. But if it had been scripted and directed well, it would definitely have been an interesting movie. ‘Thaapaana’, as such is a film that leaves much to be desired. A film that would have made for a good, loud and pacy entertainer ends up being unimpressive. You finally end up wondering why and where it all went wrong. The writer and the director are to take the blame. Even if the film manages to cash in on the Onam festive mood, I’d say it could have been a real big entertainer if the director and writer had paid attention to it in a better way. As of now, it’s a film that has gone off the track…
Performance
Mammootty is his usual self and has done his part convincingly well. Charmme is OK as Mallika. Murali Gopy once again proves that he is here to stay. But better scripting and better characterization would have given him and the other actors better scope for performance. The others too fit into their roles perfectly well, but none of them leaves an indelible impression upon our minds.
Technical aspects
Nothing much to say about the technical side. It’s all in tune with the plot and the mood.
Music
The first song of the film, which comes in the first 20 minutes, is good. We enjoy it and think that it sets the pace of the whole movie. But the song soon loses its appeal as the consequent happenings in the film, after the first half hour, disappoint us and we forget that we had that one OK kind of song in the film.
Script
Sindhuraj, who does the script, should have taken care of it in a better manner. The characterization side is totally flawed. Murali Gopy’s character could have been made much more powerful and the clash between the hero and the antagonist could have been worked out much differently. The hero’s sidekick (played by Shajon) too should have been worked out in a different way, giving scope for some more loud humour. There are too many artists in the film, but most of them or the characters they do don’t get represented well. The pace, the treatment too suffers.
Direction
Johny Antony has done what he could with his script. Of course he could have taken better care of the pace and the treatment, but had the script been better, that would have improved by itself. ‘Thaapaana’ should have been much better.
Verdict : Not up to the mark; could have been great entertainer, but misses the bus…
Rating: 2/5