Thiruchitrambalam

It is obvious why these kinds of movies are tailor made for actor Dhanush. They are about the common man, close to reality, where the main character is a bit of the viewer and relatable. So i was prepared to witness another tried and tested role in many ways similar to his early films where he plays a simple middle class boy.

Coming to this film, the idea is not at all new, and there was a fear that the movie might sink into the genre melodrama of broken family, father-son-grandpa relationship with forced tearjerker moments. Well, it tried to avoid all the tested stereotypes of love and family entertainer genre even if it is predictable. But the let down is towards the climax, nevertheless, I was glad to see Dhanush in this movie right from the unusual introduction, he didn't deviate from the character. He breaks out of his 'action hero' role and steps into the shoes of Pazham, the title character, stuck in the crisis of middle class family, trapped with his Grandad, Father and Best friend always tiptoeing around with loud mouthed talks which leads to funny cat and mouse tug-of-war and gentle moments in the film.

Major highlight is definitely Nithya Menen who plays Shobana, best friend of Pazham (Dhanush). She does her best despite all the hopelessness of the situation to stay true as a girl bestie, her clumsiness, quirky moments are nice and it will make you gradually feel great sympathy and hope for a happy end when these two are on screens. Many will want to tag along with a character like Shobana, very kind, supportive, faithful and all these words are also not enough for her.

To summarize, this film combined with dramedy, family values, background score, quirky moments adding charm to the meter of all the characters including the cameo of other 2 actress is pleasure to watch. On the other hand, i wished the film could have ended like how a Jonathan Levine, Noah Baumbach, Yûya Ishii, John Carney, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit or Cooper Raiff's Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022) will tend to, a bittersweet ending. Please don't consider this as a big negative, just give it a watch with minimal expectations as the film is all in the best traditions of the genre to make you feel wholesome with equal doses of drama and emotion. A nice and worthy addition to actor Dhanush filmography.