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.

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.

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.

Can some movies with no star cast become commercial hits? Yes,if the director is able to provide the right elements that most of the audience needs at a point.

Thiruda Thiruda by Mani Ratnam, with P.C.Sriram and music by A.R.Rahman. It was one of those movies that had no significant and was purely entertainment movie at least for its time. Obviously the director is trying to make the frontbenchers happy.

But if u did not get t o appreciate its technical finesse at the time of its release, u will do so years later. The cinematography is astounding excellence by maniratnam and PC Sriram, considering this move was released in 1993.With the advent of large screen High definition screens. This movie comes alive again even better than it used to before after watching it again on original remastered DVD Undoubtedly Ar Rahman's music in this move is clearly the best in his career . Pure and bold experimentation that gave us a unique experience.

I usually dont write reviews but felt like writing one for this movie as I enjoyed and also likes a couple of songs in it. I found it strange that there are so many negative reviews for this movie. I wouldnt call it a master piece but at the same time is way better than the majority of the tamil movies out there. Its got a good plot and good music to go along with it.