Thappana

Megastar Mammootty’s eid release Thappana is a movie that doesn’t offers anything new and ends up in being a disappointment. Made on the same platform of Mammootty’s earlier comedy successes like Thuruppu Gulan and Mayavi, this one just doesn’t have that element to keep the audience indulge in it. Apart from Mammootty’s well executed comedies and a few counter dialogs here and there, Thappana is quite an ordinary movie.

The movie is about a thief named Samson. After his release from the Central Jail, he falls in love with a girl Mallika who was also in the same jail. Samson helps her in all possible ways and he also accompanies her to her hometown. The past of Mallika and what happens in that village after the entry of Samson and Mallika is the basic plot of this Johny Antony movie.

The plot has all the scopes for a commercial entertainer. But the problem is basically with the script which at the beginning just sprints through many things to set up an environment and towards the end just gets stuck over one thing. Many jokes were embedded in the movie to make it comical. Like the whole portion involving the character Chettathi Sabu. The usual masala items are all there like revenge, flash back, an assistant to the hero, a cop, a prostitute, a cheating wife and many others. But the problem is that the audience is now open to whole lot of variety topics and presentation. Seeing this kind of a formula movie cannot make them happy.

On screen, Mammootty has delivered a super performance as Samson. His expressions and comedy timing is the only thing that will bring smile to your face. Charmi was satisfying. A talented actor like Murali Gopi wasn’t used to his best. Vijayaraghavan also did his part neatly. Suresh Krishna played the role of the Gunda smoothly.

Technically, it is sad to see Johny Antony going back to his old school for commercial success. His direction had all the clichés we are used to see and there wasn’t any unpredictability in the making. Sindhuraj’s script wasn’t at all satisfying. Some cool counter dialogs are there for the satisfaction of the audience. The action was quite an average one. Rajaratnam’s cinematography also was just around satisfying. The visual effects were also a letdown.

Overall, Thappana is a disappointing experience for the neutral audience. If you are someone who feels movies like Thuruppugulan, Mayavi etc will work in these times of Malayalam cinema which is more interested in content than character boosting, this one will satisfy you. It wasn’t enough to make me happy. I am giving 2/5 for this Mammootty starrer. Let’s hope “Jawan of Vellimala” will bring back the Megastar.