Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil Movie Review: A wedding and a funeral with crackpot energy

Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil Movie Review:

In Tamil culture, it is generally said that egos should be set aside while attending a wedding or a funeral. As far as a politician is concerned, they are expected to win elections by hook or crook and that could also mean self-abasement. Malayalam filmmaker Nithish Sahadev, in his Tamil debut Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil (TTT), turns these two themes into a buoyant Pongal comedy and unpacks them neatly within two hours.

Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil unfolds in a fictional Tamil Nadu village where Jiiva is introduced as the Panchayat President Jeevarathinam AKA Jeeva who is determined on retaining his chair and spearheads every occasion in the village. So following that code, he fronts the wedding of Ilavarasu's (Ilavarasu) daughter Sowmiya (Prathana Nathan) to the envy of Mani (Thambi Ramaiah), who has a beef with Ilavarasu over a past conflict. The gods of envy answer Mani's prayer with the demise of his bed-ridden father. Now Mani wants to make his father's funeral grander and take out a procession exactly the same time as the wedding. Jeeva now carries the pressure of walking the tight-rope of ensuring both events take place smoothly.

The best thing to happen to TTT is Jiiva understanding his role well. The caution Jeevarathinam takes not to lose a single vote in the run up to the election by playing the pacifier in both households and maintaining a humble demeanour to appease both Mani and Ilavarasu were some of the spaces the film works well. This crackpot of a plot is a work of genius and the beauty of it is that it doesn't require much brainstorming. Nithish has smartly placed screenplay landmines, or laughmines if you would, by knitting together multiple occurences with the potential of a laugh riot. 

But the film scores and misses in maintaining its tonality, especially in the second half. When the film forgets or temporarily loses its ability to evoke chuckles, Nithish's writing gets tacky. That it does voluntarily with an elaborate sequence of Sowmiya's escapade, followed by the ruckus caused by Ilavarasu in Mani's home thinking somehow he had a role to play in it. Thanks to the 115-minute runtime, the film doesn't hang on to anything for long and no misstep is overstayed. This tight runtime could have turned a disadvantage if not for neat writing that keeps track of the number of characters introduced, most of whom were also in prime form. Be it Benny, the one side lover, the Nanji gang, and even Arnold - the Shi Tzu, each of these characters have their own utility and have at least one scene each in which they chew the scenery.

Director: Nithish Sahadev

Cast: Jiiva, Ilavarasu, Thambi Ramaiah, Prathana Nathan, Jenson Dhivakar

If tonal mismatch impacts the film negatively in one way, the palpable difficulty in sustaining the tonality impacts it in other places. The interval 'bang' is insufferably lazy given it is a no-brainer. The bride's escapade episode too ends on a really flat note but the overall levity from start to finish compensates for every error. As a bonus, jokes mostly land. Thambi Ramaiah's deadpan dialogue delivery of saying something goofy in a stern manner works everytime. Him correcting Jeevarathinam, who says 'Irudhi Oorvalam,' with 'En Dheivathoda Therottam' for instance was an instant chuckler. Lines from Jenson Dhivakar like 'Room no 111-a therinje kuduthirupaanga pola' and 'Un peru Kannisami dhaane, porukkum bodhe therinjiruchu pola', leaves you in stitches. The film has no antagonist in the strictest sense, but Jenson, as the opposition party candidate, fits the bill for the kind of sly schemes he comes up with.

Another compelling, even if not exceptional, aspect of TTT is the messaging part. The messages such as not to gossip, not to hold onto egos, and the tiny potshot at caste passion breezes through but also leaves its mark. However, the running gag around the dark-skinned groom — nervously muttering 'Enakku kalyanam nadukkuradhe adhisayam' — leans uncomfortably into colourism, briefly making us uneasy about the laughter the film has earned. But the film manages to survive this pitfall as well due to the writing that pulls back the screenplay from the brink before the damage becomes irreversible.

Thalaivar Thambi Thalaimaiyil is zany, crazy, farcical, and a largely entertaining fare. Jiiva wins big for his film choices like this one and Black for flirting with least explored genres in Tamil cinema, keeping the engagement factor intact. Despite the bumps, Nithish Sahadev, in his Tamil debut, is off to a pretty good start. In a runtime under two hours, he manages to commit mistakes, dust them all off, and keeps the damage control graceful everytime throughout this fun and compact ride.