Thiruchitrambalam HD Released

 

With Thiruchitrambalam, Mithran Jawahar delivers a sweet-natured drama in which he plays with familiar tropes, but presents them with just the right amount of freshness to keep us invested and eventually leave the theatre with a smile. In Dhanush and Nithya Menen, the director has two actors who effortlessly make their characters endearing, which elevates the film's appeal and makes it charming.

The story revolves around Thiruchitrambalam (Dhanush) aka Pazham, a food delivery guy, and his relationships. There is his grandfather Thiruchitrambalam (Bharathirajaa), who is the father figure in his life, given that his father Neelankandan (Prakash Raj), a cop, and he are barely on speaking terms, due to a tragedy from their past. There is Anusha (Raashi Khanna), his childhood crush, who walks into his life after years and makes his heart flutter. And then, there is Shobana (Nithya Menen), his neighbour and childhood friend, who is his one source of comfort. As Pazham says, "Simple aana life. Perusa drama edhuvum illa."

The equations that these characters have with each other aren't exactly new. We have the grandfather as the buddy trope in the relationship between the two Pazhams; the rough-and-tough father with a soft side in Neelankandan; the rich, fair dream girl in Anusha; the bestie who is much more than just a 'friend' in Shobana. We know how all these arcs are going to end eventually. Even the characters realise some of this (Pazham himself tells Anusha that their worlds are different). But Mithran Jawahar ensures that the scenes have enough freshness so that they don't come across as clichés. One of the tricks that he employs is self-awareness, which he uses to stop scenes from becoming mawkish, and inject humour. The emotional moments are not forced-fitted, but evolve in an organic way. Like how the confrontation scene between Pazham and Neelankandan leads us to the flashback that tells us why their relationship is broken. He then lets the actors do the rest.