Thiruchitrambalam

Urban middle-class comedy is a space where Dhanush has an advantage over his contemporaries. Velai Illa Pattathari’s success cemented his place in that zone. Mithran Jawahar’s Thiruchitrambalam, which has Dhanush along with Nithya Menen, also taps into the fun vibes of that VIP space. Even though it is that standard package love story where the hero fails to realize true love, the film’s treatment that refreshingly depicts humor makes Thiruchitrambalam an enjoyable watch.

Thiruchitrambalam aka Palam is our hero. His mother and sister died in an accident, and his relationship with his police officer father was strained. The only two people he loved were his beer mate grandfather and neighbor Shobana. Thiruchitrambalam earned a living by delivering food for an app-based company. The movie is about the various romantic encounters that happen in Thiruchitrambalam’s life and how his relationship with his father evolves over time.

Spoiler Alert! The chemistry between Dhanush and Nithya Menen makes this movie a very likable entertainer. The mutual understanding of these two childhood friends is so fun that even when the film hints at a possible love angle, you somewhere hope for it to be a unique friendship. But Mithran doesn’t want to take any sort of risk, and he eventually succumbs to the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai philosophy. But the film is never going over the top with its emotions. And that, I believe, gives the movie a sense of realness.

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Mithran Jawahar somewhere knows that the movie is not that unique in terms of content. The VIP influence is definitely there; in fact, there is a sequence where we get a breathless monologue inside a train, similar to the iconic one. The irreverent style of comedy gives Thiruchitrambalam a refreshing texture. The loudness is not typical, even when the movie goes into those murky emotional spaces. The scene where Palam throws his plate to show his anger and how his father responds to that was an interesting tweak from the usual one. The grandfather character also offers some hilarious moments of banter comedy along with Shobana.

Other than the overall lightness, the only thing that felt a tad disappointing was how they placed the romantic angle in a hurried way towards that last quarter of the film. Anirudh’s music works for the various moods of the movie. I think the song’s name is Thenmozhi, and the choreography was just excellent.

Dhanush as Thiruchitrambalam plays an evolved and restrained version of Raghuvaran. His humor and vulnerable shades were highly effective. Bharathiraja as Senior Thiruchitrambalam was hilarious, and his combination scenes with both Dhanush and Nithya were fabulous. Prakash Raj as the father with emotional baggage, performed the role flawlessly. Raashi Khanna and Priya Bhavani Shankar, as Thiruchitrambalam’s crushes, do not have too much to do here. The real star for me in this movie was the cheerful Nithya Menen. It could have easily been that Hansika Motwani-level annoying character. But Nithya knows how to play it. Be it humor, how she understands Palam or even the unrequited love part, you will just love Shobana for being that solid friend.

Thiruchitrambalam is Velia Illa Pattathari’s brother from another mother. But just like VIP, this one is also a package of love, sentiments, and humor. The only thing missing is perhaps some action and what was surprisingly good about this movie was that we were never anticipating Dhanush to roll up his sleeves. The film was able to narrate its story without any such fan-pleasing gimmick.