Thanthonni-2010-Review-Prithviraj film

Director:George Varghese
Music: Tej Mervin
Cast:Prithviraj, Sheela


Debutant director George Varghese' Thanthonni is a hotchpotch of several commercial entertainers that we have seen in the past. Even then, it fails to engage the viewer, in the absence of a credible storyline and you can sit through most of the scenes only if you are a hardcore Prithviraj fan. For the rest of you, well, it could turn out to be quite a dull affair.

The storyline looks absolutely concocted and silly, with every effort intended at deifying the hero. Kochu Kunju (Prithviraj) is the youngest member of the wealthy Vadakkan Veettil tharavadu and he is an impudent brat, who had left home during his early teens and is back after almost a decade. The entire first half is devoted to establish the hero, his virtues, his comic credentials, romance and so on.

The whole household is waiting for his consent to share the properties, but then, Kochu Kunju has some points to prove as well. His uncles had hatched a plan to kill his father and Kochu Kunju had decided that he would become rich to teach them all a lesson. That he became and as it turns out to be, without much effort as well.

It is during the narration during a flashback sequence in the second half that we find some interesting moments in the whole film. Otherwise, Thanthonni is a half-baked misadventure, which is never a gripping film. The technical aspects are a big let down and that adds to the woes while watching this film, which is around two and a half hours long.

Director George Varghese has not been able to do some smart repairs on Shahid's shaky script. Worse still, Sajeth Menon's camera rarely succeeds in presenting even half decent visuals and the music by Tej Mervin lacks any merit.

Prithviraj, who had shown lots of promise with Puthiyamugham, lacks the zing as Kochu Kunju. His attempts to do comic scenes aided by Suraj Venjarammood and Jagathy Sreekumar don't look convincing. Sheela, who had a disastrous outing with Maya Bazaar sometime back, reminds of a log of wood considering her histrionic skills. The rest of the cast including Ambika, Sai Kumar, Captain Raju, Suresh Krishna, Vijayaraghavan and Sudheesh among others have only limited roles to play.

It has been made as per certain age old formulas which could have been fine some two decades back. If you are the kind who regards a mixture of buffoonery, fights and some heroism as the perfect recipe for entertainment, this one could turn out to be a not-so-bad effort. For the rest of the world, watch it at your own risk!

Verdict: Disappointing