Theri

Customized justice is a theme that Atlee’s guru Shankar has always used in his movies and with Theri Atlee tries to use that theme in an entertaining way. The story and plot development isn’t necessarily amusing or completely surprising. But the level of simplicity in character equations and the gradual likeability of the whole story put Theri in that pleasing zone.

Spoiler alert! Skip this paragraph if you don’t want any hint about the story. The plot revolves around a Tamil guy named Joseph Kuruvila and his daughter Nivi who are currently living in Kerala. At one point after an accident, Nivi’s teacher Annie happens to know that there is a mysterious past to Joseph. Theri ultimately talks about who Joseph Kuruvila was and what happened in that past life of his.

As I said, when you look at the story there isn’t much of a surprise or novelty to its credit. Mystery past, super heroic central protagonist with social values, a revenge thirst and a tricky cat and mouse game to catch a dead man. We have seen all this in various films but Atlee assembles the typical stuff in an engaging and entertaining way. The chemistry of Vijay and Baby Nainika, the charm of Samantha and Vijay looked really lovely on screen. Atlee maintains calmness along with the much needed action masala. The treatment never goes over the top and the emotional sequences aren’t that cheesy.

Vijay looks cool in those heroic scenes which demand that particular attitude. But in certain sequences, especially in those light hearted ones, the over acting of the body was a bit annoying. Baby Nainika was adorable even after getting slightly heavy dialogues. The beautiful Samantha also did her part very nicely. Radhika Sarathkumar was nice as the mother. Amy Jackson in that awkward wig to play a Malayali teacher Annie, was okay. J Mahendran was a convincing antagonist. Prabhu, Azhagan Perumal, Rajendran and a few more are there delivering satisfying performances.

In the making, Atlee somewhat proves that he comes from Shankar school of film making. The grand sets for that major song with elaborate making, certain green screen experiments etc. show us his wish to do all those large scale visual making. Even though the content isn’t that awe inspiring, the coolness he adds to the treatment is a promising one. Many cheesy sentimental scenes were there, but a few quirks here and there sort of stop the audience from hauling. Some memorable sequences were also there. The one were hero reveals his role in a killing to the villain, that shot were a little kid holds the chocolate in front of a dead body etc. were too good. Songs are just okay. BGM was good. George C Williams’ has done a really good job with cinematography. Edits were also sharp.

So to sum it up, Theri is a convincing entertainer with all the formulas we expect in a Vijay starrer. Social preaching, romance, sentiments, action and thrills are packed in a satisfying way and the movie definitely works as a festival entertainer.