Thiruchitrambalam review: Dhanush shines again in this predictable but joyful love story

Dhanush and Nithya Menen in 'Thiruchitrambalam', which released in theatres on August 19, 2022.

No one was as mad as I to see Dhanush in that silly stab, stab, stab role in Netflix’s The Gray Man. But then I saw this trailer, and I queued up patiently for the ‘first day, first show’ in Mumbai.

You’d think the screens are empty, think again! The show was full, barring a couple of seats. And how we whooped and cheered as thatha (grandpa) insulted his peran (grandson), and then they both sat down to drink beer… This was going to be a good movie.

Is there a moment of your life that made you the way you are right now? Well, Thiruchitrambalam Jr's (Dhanush) does. Once a class topper, he’s now happy to deliver food and when off-duty, eat, sleep and watch Netflix…

As a delivery guy, Thiruchitrambalam is also called ‘Pazam’. (I always thought the word meant ‘banana’ but the movie subtitles say it means ‘dork’.) By the way, the movie is in Tamil, but has English subtitles.

Pazam lives with his grandpa and dad. In fact, Pazam has been named after his grandpa because his mother loved him. But dad, he’s the gruff, angry police officer who does not hesitate to beat up his ‘useless’ son who gave up college ‘because he hates me’.

Pazam is a flight of stairs away from his best friend Shobhana. She’s a chatterbox and Thiru shares his deepest, darkest thoughts with her. And she is fun, teasing him for his never-ending crush on Anusha (played sweetly by Rashi Khanna), bugging him and yes, she also offers a shoulder to cry on.

Shobhana is played with so much joy by Nithya Menen that it percolates down from the screen to your seat. We should all have a bestie who makes it possible for us to deal with our days, no? I love how she tells him off for not having completed his studies, yells at Pazam’s dad for slapping a grown up son, and even calls grandpa ‘Hrithik Roshan’...

Grandpa, or Thiru senior, is played by the veteran actor and director Bharathiraja. You have seen him play characters who are mostly rural. But he's also done films like Sigappu Rojakkal (Kamala Haasan and Sridevi) about a misogynist psychopath and is highly decorated with awards for many of his films…

As Pazam’s grandpa, you love how he manages to become a bridge between his warring son and his grandson. The love for his son is very clear when the son is unwell, and how much he loves his grandson is evident from the trailer itself…

Prakash Raj plays the gruff dad who has trouble understanding his son. He gets angry because his son is a coward but is not above chasing a tip offered by his son to catch a child-napping gang. The reason why there is such a communication gap between father and son is heart-breaking and you will understand both their points of view. But despair is not the essence of the film.

I loved Dhanush and Nithya dancing to the song ‘Megham Karukatha’, even though the choreography clearly shows that it has been inspired by Singing In The Rain, but it doesn’t matter. Dhanush is light on his feet and Nithya is, well, gorgeous.

Even the song ‘Thaai Kelavi’ is fun to watch. It makes you want to dance in the aisles, but I’m happy to clap along with the rest of the whistle-podu crowd!

The one criticism I have is that the story is predictable. But dammit, aren’t you all tired of angry bearded men fighting and snarling and generally pummeling their enemies to pulp to ear-splitting background music? This is a love story which will make you laugh and cry and happy you spent the multiplex money for the ticket, the coffee and cheesy popcorn.