Gauging how good or bad a film would be with a quick look at the trailer can sometimes go terribly wrong. You may have trusted the credible names you glimpsed in the cast and crew and not wanting to know more, shut off your laptop and headed to the theatre. But there, as the curtains draw and the opening scenes tumble onto the big screen, you get your first jolt. You’d kindly wait, perhaps, giving the film a second, third, and fourth chance. After that, like a good sport, you accept defeat, knowing you are way too deep in now. That is more or less the gist of what happened with Thekku Vedakku.
On the face of it, the film has a lot going for it. Two of the most capable actors in Malayalam, Vinayakan and Suraj Venjaramood, lead the show. Filmmaker Prem Sankar, who made a notable debut with Randuper, has directed the story written by the renowned S Hareesh, from whom came the core idea of films like Jallikattu, Churuli, and Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam.
Hareesh’s story, part of his anthology called Adam, is but a crust of the script of Thekku Vadakku. In his neatly packaged string of words in Adam, you dig out an intriguing tale of two warring old men who have forever been ‘enemies’, much to the entertainment of the townsfolk. On screen, the men are younger, in their 60s, with grays coating Suraj’s hair and beard, and baldness spreading on Vinayakan. They have sons who care two hoots about the fathers' fight and a sidekick each. Their characters – stubborn old men with plenty of quirks – become, from the onset, forced caricatures obviously created for the laughs, but without so much as drawing a ‘ha’ out of you. It becomes sadder when you think how much each of these actors is capable of.
Suraj’s Shankunni is made to be a contrast to Vinayakan’s Madhavan. One is in mundu and shirt and quite the Malayali ammavan, the other in pants and shirts and glasses, wishing good morning to all. When you read the story and match the scenes, you know it could have made a really interesting picture – the two men standing together with their cups of tea and looking everywhere but at each other. But the comedy repeatedly falls flat, drags on, and at one point turns way too cringy. This is when they introduce a long sequence to show how one man gets back at the other by dirtying a plot of land in unimaginably gross ways. This is the land that they both have been fighting over, with a court case dragging on for 30 years.
You spot elements of what could have been a nice script when Shankunni says how much he gets a high out of coming to the court and watching the drama unfold there, or when Madhavan calls his young aide, ‘Friend’. But these are needles in the haystack, drowned by poor making, pointless detailing, and untapped talents. From Melvin G Babu playing the ‘Friend’ to Sam CS leaving his catchy music among unfitting scenes, skills of artists seem wasted in this messy venture.
Thekku Vadakku in Malayalam, literally meaning south and north, is a usage to convey how one is wasting time wandering here and there. How the name becomes too apt for the film is but another sad twist.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the producers or any other members of its cast and crew.