Movie Reviews
Thoondil.

Feb 29, 2008, 12:46

Cast: Shaam, Sandhya, Divya, Revathi, Vivek

Direction: K S Adhiyaman

Music: Abhisekh Rey

Production: Medient In Association With Tarlac And Good Win Movies
 
Thoondil, a film shot extensively in London, tries to fuse romance, suspense, and drama but doesn’t fully succeed. Though the plot has some twists and turns, it is basically a melodrama about a couple that is forced to wage a custody battle over their child. Directed by Adhiyaman, the movie raises questions about biological mothers versus nurturing mothers. The plot revolves around Shaam, Sandhya and Divya, and the emotional complications that ensue when both women stake a claim over the same child.

Shaam, a handsome young man has everything in life: a loving wife, a good job, a car and all the riches that any man could dream of. He marries Sandhya and the couple begins their life on a happy note. But Sandhya has a problem: though she badly wants a child, she is unable to conceive because she cannot produce enough eggs. She learns this from her gynecologist (played by Revathy) who does her best to medically improve Divya’s chances of conceiving.

And then, to everyone’s surprise, and Sandhya’s delight, she becomes pregnant, and gives birth. Life takes on a new turn for the happy couple as they discover the delights of bringing up a baby. But just as suddenly, in a blink of an eye, everything changes. Divya, a fashion model in London, snatches the child from them. Why did she do it? Why is Shaam so helpless though he knows Divya may have kidnapped the child? Will they ever get their child back?
 
 
Adhiyaman takes a familiar plot – the triangle – and adds a new element to it: child custody. The focus is not whether Divya, the ex-lover, reunite with Shaam but will the parents reunite with their child. The director builds the suspense carefully in the first half. The flashback romance between Shaam and Divya is entertaining. The dialogues deftly illustrate the points the director wants to make, especially in a lighter vein when, through Shaam, he makes fun of Sandhya’s nose and Divya’s height!

Shaam is in his element as the hero torn between two women. We’ve already witnessed how sensuous Divya was in Polladavan, and in Thoondil, she is even sexier and appealing. She is pure eye candy in the beach song sequence. Though the film’s villain (or should one say, villy?), Divya plays her character sympathetically. Sandhya sparkles as long as she is the young wife; one she turns the young mother, she is mostly teary-eyed and sad, and her sadness weighs down the film.
 
 
 
Once the movie gets a little heavy, Vivek steps in to bring us some comic relief with his running gag of wooing snazzy London girls in his Nattamai Vijaykumar getup! Revathy is competent. Kaviyarasu’s camera uses the London locales interesting, but for some strange reason, the scenes look grainy, and lack clarity. Abhishek Ray, making his debut as music composer, hasn’t done a bad job at all, coming up with at least two memorable songs. However, the background score is noisy, overly melodramatic, with a lot of screaming violins.

Overall, director Adhiyaman’s Thoondil begins promisingly but then turns unsatisfying as it fritters out.