When announced, Nithish Sahadev’s new movie Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil created a sense of curiosity in many people as to how he would approach humor in Tamil, as the tone of humor is different there. Nithish’s debut film, Falimy, was a movie that managed to create hilarious moments in the theater without being overly loud. When it comes to Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil, Nithish and his co-writers Anuraj and Sanjo Joseph are trying to crack a social satire set against the backdrop of a village. While it rarely becomes preachy and is on point all the time, the character pool was somewhat overloaded, and there are tracks in the movie that couldn’t fully establish their significance. With no beating around the bush happening here, this 115-minute-long entertainer is enjoyable in parts.
Jeeva Ratnam, the Panchayat head of the village, is the main character. As the elections approach, he decides to visit Ilavarasu’s house, as his daughter Soumya is getting married. The equation between Ilavarasu and his neighbor Mani wasn’t that great due to some past grudge. While the preparations were happening in full swing, something unprecedented happened, and there was tension in the air. Jeeva, who wants the vote of everyone, has the task of managing gigantic egos. How he manages to do that is what we see in Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil.
The social satire concept of the movie, on a broader level, is pretty unique. There is a purpose to the introduction scene of Jiiva in the movie. And if you look at the sequence that establishes the wedding house, one can see Nithish giving subtle emphasis on elements that play a key role at a later stage. The possible reason why he decided to take this subject to Tamil would most probably be the similarities of certain moments and characters with some Malayalam movies. When a Malayali watches this movie, he will be reminded of movies like Vellimoonga, Jan-E-Man, and even the recent Vysanasamedham Bandhumithrathikal. The placement and staging are completely different in this movie. But there is a familiarity in the way some characters and moments are designed.
The writing does not waste any moment by trying to add a song or a fight that doesn’t add any purpose to the film. The conflict that arises due to the contrast of emotions creates a sense of eagerness in our minds. The stage is set for a chaotic comedy when the key event happens. To create chaos, the screenplay adds multiple characters to the story. While some of it lands really well, some of it was unable to create the emotion that was necessary for the movie. The foundation of the whole conflict is based on the ego between Ilavarasu and Mani, and I thought the chaos was too much that the critique of those characters didn’t get much attention. The moments that created confusion were funny, and the way they used water in the final act was also pretty effective. Vishnu Vijay’s music is adding that peppy energy to the movie.
Jiiva as Jeeva fits the character perfectly. His forever-young looks are apt for this role of a middleman who is handling too many things. Much like Jiiva, Ilavarasu is also playing a character named Ilavarasu. He portrayed the ego of the character neatly on screen. Thambi Ramaiah has this overdoing loud style typically associated with him. Considering why this Mani character behaves the way we see in the movie, that style sort of matches the character. Prathana Nathan has that smartness in the initial patches of the movie, but as the film progresses, the character becomes typical. Among the many that performed character roles, the noticeable performances came from Subash Kannan, Jenson Dhivakar, and Sarjin Kumar. While the technical crew of the movie was almost 90% Keralites, ranging from the director, writers, DOP, editor, music director, to the sound department, the cast also had some Malayali presence, with most of them getting a dubbed voice. And that includes names like Anuraj, Amith Mohan, and Surjith.
The idea, the obvious and symbolic setups, and their payoffs, etc., of Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil make it an engaging watch. But like I said, when you are familiar with the chaos comedy premise, you can sort of predict the beats of things, and Nithish Sahadev’s movie can’t really surprise us fully in that aspect. With certain tracks working while others lacking the desired impact, Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil is a mixed bag entertainer with genuine intentions.
