The central idea around which the movie Thundu is made is actually quite sensible. It basically wants to understand a man who always ends up in trouble and never really has the courage to take up the challenge. But the structuring of the screenplay of this movie, directed by Riyas Shareef, fumbles considerably in the second half, and what you get eventually is an entertainer that has its moments, but is a bit uneven in totality.
Baby is a constable in the Kerala Police, and his family comprises his wife and son. The son, who is a kind of infamous for malpractices in exams, is a headache for Baby. Another officer in the force holds a grudge against Baby for something that Baby did against that officer and that officer’s cousin. What we see is Baby’s efforts to get a promotion by clearing an exam and how things around that changed his life drastically.
There is a moment in the movie’s second half, where Baby sits with his son and asks him whether he is okay. Baby decides to share how he used to be when he was his son’s age, and we get to know why Baby was such an insecure person. The odd thing is that the dog track, which feels pretty insignificant while we watch this film has a closer connection to this personal story of Baby. After a pretty simplistic first half that deals with a very straightforward conflict in the hero’s life, the second half chooses to deal with too much stuff.
Riyas Shareef decides to unload multiple things in the film’s second half. We get to know what precisely caused the grudge, the whole dog track, the Naveen story, and then the personal backstory of Baby that sort of justifies why the dog track was necessary for the movie. The crowdedness of the second half is making the movie wobble. The film bounces back with some emotional elements in the third act, and it manages to cover up the chaos to an extent. Through those fancy pans and zooms, Jimshi Khalid’s cinematography tries to enhance the comical elements in the story. The choreography of the whole exam hall stint looked very catchy.
This is not a zone that Biju Menon hasn’t explored in his career. Baby is a comfort-zone Biju Menon character, and the actor performs the insecurities and the evolution of the character pretty effortlessly. Gokulan as Naveen, who has a major role in the second half, was memorable. Unnimaya Prasad plays the part of Baby’s wife. The boy who played the son’s part was also fine. Abhiram Radhakrishnan and Shine Tom Chacko have shared the antagonist part, and both were convincing. Raffi, Sajin Cherukayil, Shaju KS, Vineeth Thattil, Baiju, etc., are the other popular names in the cast.
Thundu has a bloated feel when you analyze certain sequences. The whole Biriyani shop sequence, how the Gokulan dance number escalates dramatically, etc., is quite off-putting. But with some emotional elements making us empathize with the main character, this 125-minute-long film never really becomes an endurance test.
With some emotional elements making us empathize with the main character, this 125-minute-long film never really becomes an endurance test.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
