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Dhanush is perhaps the most self-aware actor in Tamil cinema. He knows his strengths and playing an average Joe is one of them. He is also aware that the easiest way to win the audience is to represent them on screen unabashedly and genuinely. That’s why you keep seeing films like Naiyaandi, VIP, Thanga Magan, and now, Thiruchitramabalam. After a long while, it was heartening to see a simple love story written with so much love for the characters with whom you end up falling in love. When filmmakers are slowly forgetting the art of telling romantic love stories, this serves as a recent reminder that the stakes in a film need not always be larger-than-life, it can be as simple as a guy trying to overcome his trauma and grief to find the love of his life. And I just told you the story of Thiruchitramabalam.
Thiruchitrambalam is as straightforward as it can get. I mean it starts with a voiceover, and no, it is not an easy way out. It only adds to the character of the film instead of being an exposition tool. Dhanush plays Thiruchitramabalam (Pazham for short), a food delivery guy for a service portal called Doink – if it sounds funny, it is meant to be. He is the namesake of his grandfather (Bharathiraja), who is more or less a buddy. Drinking beer together is a daily ritual they follow without fail. The grandpa, once a Casanova, has a lot of dating tips for the youngster, but love keeps evading Pazham. The young man shares a thorny relationship with his police officer dad Neelakandan. He holds a grudge against his father, which comes out as rage. Other than his grandfather, Pazham has another childhood buddy Shobana (Nithya Menen), and their relationship is refreshing and engrossing.
Thiruchitrambalam doesn’t rely on its story, which, to be honest, is pretty old for a film. In Tamil, Piriyadha Varam Vendum (2001) is something that pops up immediately in my head. It doesn’t feature a ‘hero’ either. Pazham is a coward, who shuns confrontation, which again has to do with the suppressed grief and trauma. Be it expressing his love for a woman or standing up for his friend, Pazham just can’t. Courage is as elusive as romance for him. So, heroism is out of the question. The only thing that this rom-com relies on is simple writing. Every scene exudes a genuine joy of simplicity, which is not forced but organic.
Nithya Menen does so much more in the film than Dhanush, and it doesn’t even look like she is trying. She is a bundle of joy and shows how a good performance can elevate a simple script. You find yourself rooting for her from the word go. Veteran filmmaker Bharathiraja also brings such a joyful vibe to the film that you can’t get enough of him. All these characters feel real because they disregard the preordained duties that are expected of them. When partially paralysed Neelakandan asks his dad whether he has become a burden to the grandfather and son, you don’t get any emotional retort from the old man. Instead, he admits that he is a burden, but a good one. The melodrama gets replaced by heartening rationality, which sets apart Thirchitramabalam from many such feel-good films. There’s a lot of heart, and also thought.
I am glad Dhanush still remembers that more than the ‘massy’ affairs, these are the films that make up a star. At least, that’s true in his case. When filmmakers are widening the focus to get all of India to the theatres, director Mithran Jawahar’s Thiruchitramabalam treats you to an extreme close-up of everyday people and their everyday problems. It is also a gentle reminder that you don’t need a lot of guns to blow the audiences’ minds.
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