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Child custody and a melodramatic love triangle |
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| Behindwoods
Movie Review Board |
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Cast:
Shaam, Sandhya, Divya, Revathi, Vivek
Direction: K S Adhiyaman
Music: Abhisekh Rey
Production: Medient In Association With Tarlac And Good
Win Movies |
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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?
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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.
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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.
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Verdict: If you’re seeing it, see
it for Divya
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