Thambi - A Commendable Effort. Review on Thambi

Thambi - A commendable effort

Directed by: Seeman

Genre: Action

Cast: Madhavan, Pooja

Music: Vidyasagar

Plot Outline: A man affected by violence decides to fight against violence

What if a man affected by violence decides to fight against violence? Madhavan plays the role of ‘Thambi’, an angry man fighting against the violence. Does he choose to fight according to Gandhian ‘ahimsa’ principles? No. He tries to fight violence with violence.

Thambi Thondaiman (Madhavan) is a young man who believes that violence is the root cause of all evils in the society and is determined to eliminate it completely. He knows for sure that, no one would listen if he starts preaching against violence. So he takes violence as a measure to eradicate violence. In his own words ‘Using a weapon in an open heart surgery is only a cure, not violence and that is what I do’. He decides to fight against Sankara Pandian (Biju Menon), a local rowdy and would never sit back till the villains give up violence. A clichéd flashback explains how he becomes a militant. No prize for those who guess that he had lost his family due to a violent attack by the villain. But still, the flashback has some interesting family sentiments.

Archana(Pooja), a college girl and a dancer plays the love interest of the hero. Again, pat yourself in the back if you have guessed that the heroine chases the hero and the hero says a strict no to her in the beginning. Does he succeed in reforming the villain? What happens to him in this struggle against violence? ‘Thambi’ answers these questions.

Madhavan has tried to come out of his chocolate boy image in this film. Remember, he has already done a ruffian role in Aaitha Ezhuthu (Yuva in Hindi). His long grown and bouncy hair helps him to portray an angry man determined for a cause. He has even managed to act without winking through out the movie. I wonder why the director decided a militant should not wink his eyes. Probably, he might have thought that that would imply his determination. Anyhow, Madhavan has done a lot of homework for this role and that reflects on the screen. At the same time, if only he had worked some more to reduce his weight it would have been better. Also, his high pitched voice at times hurt your ears.

Pooja fits the role to the T. But, she should have done some more homework to play the role of a classical dancer. Vadivelu and Ilavarasu provide you with some comic relief at times. Biju Menon plays the role of the villain perfectly. Vadivelu could have been given extra screen space.

Vidyasagar has come up with some good melodies in ‘Thambi’. ‘Sudum Nilavu’ is hum-worthy piece and ‘Ennamma…’ is a peppy number. Na. Muthukumar’s lyrics for ‘Ennamma…’ mocking the society is good. Subramania Bharathy’s ‘Udalinai Urudhi sei…’ song written almost a century back is apt for the theme of the film. Background score is also fair except for occasional loud and jarring sounds (the problem may be with the speaker system of the theatre in which I viewed the film).

Dialogues are the high point of the film. Writer-Director Seeman has worked hard to bring the character in his mind to the screen. His notions are noble, but if only he had worked some more in bringing out a new plot, this film would have been great to watch. The lead pair’s romance scenes don’t go with the story properly and only serve as speed breakers in the screenplay.

As a whole, the director’s effort to bring out a movie against violence should be commended, and I think that’s why the censors have passed this action film with a clean ‘U’ certificate.