THEENI MOVIE REVIEW CLICK TO RATE THE MOVIE

Theeni is a romantic comedy written and directed by Ani Sasi and produced by BVSN Prasad under the banner Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra. The film has Ashok Selvan, Ritu Varma and Nithya Menen in the lead roles while Nasser appears in a crucial supporting role. The film has music by Rajesh Murugesan and cinematography by Divakar Mani.

Dev (Ashok Selvan) is a chef who works in a five-star restaurant in London, where Nasser is the head chef. Ritu Varma plays the role of Maya, who is diametrically opposite to Dev in terms of cleanliness and self-care. Although they are not sworn rivals or enemies, both of them do not gel well, until a day when both get locked inside the restaurant. What happens next forms the rest of the plot.

As soon as the film begins, we are introduced to Dev and Maya's lives at the same time through an intercut. Dev is someone who is obese, has messy hair, and his room is almost like a dustbin. On the other hand, Maya has OCD and her room doesn't have a speck of dust. She is organised, has an alarm for everything, is extremely punctual and cares a lot about personal hygiene. In fact, she is someone who washes her hands at least six-seven times because of her condition.

While establishing these characters, the film also makes an important statement to the audience. It wants to remove all chaff from the writing. Or in other words, the film values our time, and doesn't want to waste any of it. There is no separate hero introduction. In fact, the first few minutes don't have any dialogues. The movement of Ritu Varma and Ashok Selvan here look Chaplinesque, and they have a slight humorous effect on us. It won't make you laugh out loud, but it does bring a smile to your face.

This also serves as a foreshadow to the rest of the film, in terms of the mood. There are no heart wrenching, tragic scenes, despite a death. A father and daughter get separated but we only get that as a dialogue. On one side, this is a positive for the film, as the engagement increases. On the flip side, this also becomes one of the negatives of the film because you find it difficult to emotionally invest in the sorrows/problems these characters face. But the intent of the film is clear, which is to give the audience a feel-good product.

Performance wise, Ashok Selvan understands the nuances of his character well and has delivered a top-notch act. Ritu Varma and Nasser too have proper arcs and their subtle performances help the film's cause. Barring Nithya Menen, the rest of the cast do not have much screen time and a chunk of the film only has the leads in the frame.

Cinematographer Divakar Mani's usage of close-up shots makes us feel like we are a part of the setting as well. A lot of portions happen inside a restaurant, and the way the food items have been shot are drool-worthy. Generally too, the visuals and music play the perfect foil to the narrative, and the film is technically strong.

This is one of those films where the writing is pretty neat. Not much time is spent on flashbacks, the emotions are handled maturely, the runtime is less than two hours, and the screenplay is linear. The film doesn't make you think much, and the violence is zero. In other words, you feel very comfortable watching films like these. Overall, the film engages you for most parts, and makes you feel good, despite the film not being about you. Such films are rare.

THEENI VIDEO REVIEW