Thiruda Thiruda

Mani Ratnam's adroit transposition of the Butch and Sundance story into a quirky rural setting with a distinctively Indian sensibility is ceaselessly entertaining, if eventually a little too long. You can find in it the major elements of Indian commercial cinema -- set-piece action scenes and dance numbers--but the film distinguishes itself with stylish camera work, superb music and, above all, a deliciously maverick, fantastical tone embellished with sparkling humor, very reminiscent of Terry Gilliam (Monty Python, Time Bandits, Adventures of Baron Munchhausen) in his prime.

The film borrows liberally from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", both in letter and spirit. The more-or-less irrelevant plot involves two small-time thieves who inadvertently end up in control of the vast loot resulting from a major heist. Hot on their heels are the original mastermind of the heist, and a frantic police force led by an overweight, deceptively slow detective (S.P. Balasubramanian in the role of his life). Predictable complications ensue, but the pleasure is in the perceptive, droll sense of humor and the Indiana Jones-esque sense of adventure with which the story is told.

Stunning locales and exotic scenery lead the viewer right from India's mint at Nasik into meandering ravines and forests. The story and its conception was probably way ahead of its time, when such pace of action was unheard of, not to mention the extra morph of glamour that the film boldly and outrageously, though successfully, portrayed. This was probably one reason why the movie did not do well at the box office. Some good acting by S.P. Balasubramaniam as the CBI officer gives insights into the workings of the pre-eminent organization. Overall an urbane action flick with rustic romantic vibes, and laudable cinematography.

This movie was released long back. However, I viewed it again recently on DVD. Thiruda Thiruda has almost all the ingredients of a commercial Tamil movie - well-done dance sequences, catchy music, memorable songs, comedy, fights, chases, glamorous heroines, mindless villains, gun-toting henchmen who get beaten black and blue by bare-handed heroes and the rest. In fact, the movie has an interesting combination of various elements seen in different Tamil movies - affectionate brothers, village panchayats, policemen who turn into part-time comedians, triangle love, Robin Hood-like heroes who steal from the rich and give to the poor, rustic village belle and glamorous city gal; even the usual thaai maaman atha maga problems (Tamil movie-goers will understand that); and name a chase sequence, and you have it - on a motor bike, on a cycle, on a truck, on a car, on trains, and even on horses! Plus, the movie itself is littered with numerous actors, almost a quarter of the Tamil tinsel town should have figured in it.

It's to the director's credit that he has woven all these elements and more to give a clear and interesting screenplay with well-etched characters. Where he fails is the credibility department. Of course, one can't expect realism in commercial movies. But numerous sequences do test your patience. And then you realise why this movie with amazing songs, a different story and brilliant cinematography still failed to make it big at the box-office.

The story, by the way, is pretty simple - the villain's plan to pinch a 1000 crores of newly printed notes from the Indian government goes awry; the villain and the CBI begin their chase to track down the container; and two village thieves, their ladylove and the villain's mole get drawn into the scheme of things. The movie is worth a watch, especially the songs tuned by AR Rahman - Kannum kannum, Putham puthu bhoomi and Konjam nilavu in particular. The guy who plays Kadir (Anand) looks nice and does a neat job. Pity he hasn't been seen in many Tamil movies.

I have to admit, though I am a huge Mani Ratnam fan, I was reluctant to watch this film, mainly because the impression I got was that it was a bad film. But i kept reading about the use of lighting and the cinematography, and i thought i'd give it a go.

This is probably the least Mani Ratnam-esquire film I have seen, the first 10 minutes i kept seeing homages to Sholay (the initial train sequence and the motorbike the police use) and i mainly put that down to RGV writing. The film gathers pace, characters get introduced, u have the fun chase sequences, some nice little exchanges, and before u realise it the film has finished. The result, a nice little commercial film, which I think is much better than most of the films of this genre made in 2005 in Bollywood. But then again this is Mani Ratnam we are talking about.

The really good things about this film; Brilliant songs, brilliant cinematography, you have to watch the song sequence of Chandralekha simply superb. Technically it is a good film. Well directed.

The bad things about this film; well i have to say, at times the film just looks really low-budget (especially when it comes to the special effects), the lead actors are a little disappointing i thought, apart from one of the actresses ( her character was called rasathi) the lead actors just lack charisma and anu agrawal at times looked a little overweight. the love-triangle was a little a pointless and the fact that it remained unresolved was disappointing.

i do recommend this film, but be aware that this is not a typical Mani Ratnam film so do not start watching the film with expectations of brilliant dialogues, a film grounded in realism, because you will feel a little disappointed.

Shockingly enough, this film brings together Mani Rathnam, Ram Gopal Varma, and A.R.Rehman. The music is decent, but the technical work is shoddy, the script is terrible, and the performances fairly ordinary. Not suprisingly, Ratnam and Varma never worked together again.