Under The Spot Light: Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey (TPT)

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After the success of Geethaiyin Radhai (GR), Director Shalini Balasundaram is back with her second directional venture with Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey (TPT). With GR being a huge success in the box office, expectations were running high on Shalini’s TPT. With the GR combo of Shalni-Ztish teaming up once again for TPT, expectations were high on this film. Here is my review of the film

Story Review

Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey, the tittle itself gives away that TPT is going to be a film themed around theft. The first thing that impressed me about TPT was the depth of its content. Shalini touches upon two types of theft in this film. First being the theft we all know about, involving money and jewelry. Let it be snatch thief, robbery or blackmailing, Shalini had all of it covered in TPT.

The second type of theft that gets spoken about in this movie is love theft. It speaks about how one individual courts another individual’s girlfriend who is not the happiest of person in a relationship.Those two were the obvious themes that stands out in the film. 

There was another interesting layer in the film that caught my attention in the film. It touches upon parenting. TPT shows on how parenting has an influence on how a child grows up to be. How the hero and villain behaves in the film were largely influenced by the upbringing of their parents and this serves out as great message and reminder on parents watching this film to be more responsible on how they raise their children.

TPT is a film that is challenging to summarize its story into a one liner as you could see from above the depth of the film. It is a story that happens over a couple of years. It has two story tracks going on this film and how it crosses over and reaches the climax is what TPT about.

The first track is about the love theft that happens between Saresh, Shalini and Irfun with Yuvaraj, Hemaji & Manjula who are all a part of this storyline. The second track is about crime theft that happens in the life of Kabil and his circle and the relationship between his father and him.

In terms of story, TPT wins big time. It had such a good and strong story and had all the different kind emotions wrapped in it. Love, comedy, fear, emotions, heartbreak and everything, TPT has the complete package wrapped in 2 hours 20 minutes for your viewing.

Rating: 3.7/5.0

Director Review

Shalini Balasundaram

First of all big congratulations to Shalini on your second theatrical film. It is good to see you have followed up with another film post the success of GR. Having watch both GR and TPT, I can say that you have improved so much.

It is good to see that you have taken the criticism you received from GR and put that to work in TPT. I have seen significant improvements in TPT but it is still not up to par for me just yet. Noticed many moments where the camera was shaky. It felt that there were many hand held shots and that was disturbing for me.

Also I picked up a few conti mistakes in the film, whereby in there wasn’t consistency in the cast in one scene but different shots. That was a little disappointing for me too. This mistakes happened in GR too but in TPT it was surely lesser and that is a welcomed improvement.

However the biggest disappoint for me in this film was the screenplay and the type of scenes selection. As fantastic of a story you had, I didn’t feel the film did full justice to deliver the full potential of the story.

I feel that if you were to narrate to me the story of TPT to me, it would be even more powerful and amazing, but when I watched it on screen, something along the way seemed to have gone missing and reduced the impact of what the film could have delivered.

I felt with a neater, trimmer and better scene arrangement, TPT could have been so much more impactful to the audience. As much as story was the strength of TPT, it also worked against your way as you seemed to have far too much of a content that you tried to deliver.

On the positive note, one of my favourite thing in the movie is the interval block. I loved the treat you gave for the interval block. I don’t remember a film which had so much going on in the interval block with such a mix of emotions. I was laughing, fearful and anticipating for things to happen all at the same time. Brilliant work there Shalini.

You are going strength to strength and improving with every movie Shalini and it is no doubt that as long you keep working on improvements from film after film, you will only get better.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

The Cast

Saresh D'Seven

I first watched you in Aasaan where you played a supporting character who was a hacker. Despite the minimal screen time, you made a very lasting impression on me in the terms on how you carried your body language for the character. You molded yourself well into the character and I was impressed.

And when I saw you in SSL, which justified my initial thoughts on you that you are a lead actor material. Now carrying the experience of two films, I could see you have matured into a much better actor in TPT.

Playing the role of Arjun who is an aspiring film maker who is determined to make a difference to the society, you played it very calmly and casually. It felt very natural and real whenever you are on screen. It was like watching someone you know next door. That was very well done with you.

It I were to highlight one thing about your acting, it was the way you acted during the “Valikirathe” song scenes. You nailed it. It was absolutely perfect and that was my favourite portion of the film. The way you reacted to the situation felt so real and painful. That was fantastic.

I am not surprised on how fast you are climbing up the ladder to be my favourite Malaysian actor and I am convinced post TPT, I will not be the only one who is going to be saying that.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Shalini Balasundaram

Second film as a director, second film as a lead actress, which is a remarkable feat. Playing a role of a girl trapped in a way traffic relationship with a guy since schooling days, couple with a determination to do something to change the society, you had a character that two different types of emotions in the film.

You have stepped up from GR and showed more confidence as an actress but I was let down with the way you played the character. It felt like it was more of a character extension of Arthi from GR rather than Amudha. That is an area that needs to be worked on if you are going to continue acting. I would love to see variations from your performance.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Kabil

Making his filming debut in TPT, Kabil plays the role of Raja @ Mc Fire who is the main negative lead role of the film. Playing the role of a boy who grew up in a family that encourages crime and theft, he becomes one with a vision to emulate his father in the crime world and become the next big thing.

The way he expressed anger in his scenes were good and was convincing. He carried a certain aura in his performance and looked to dominate the scenes which he was present in. I loved the way the scene which he confronts his father in a shop in Ipoh. Such dominance and control of the scene and that is a joy to watch.

An area which was a could have been a little better for me is that I felt Kabil got himself stuck to the matrix of his character description too much and that meant a little lack of adaptation on how his character should talk and carry himself from scene to scene which was different.

I always feel a character should adapt their characterization from scene to scene and give only what is need instead of giving the total characterization in every scene.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Yuvaraj Krishnasamy

Just like how the gods Krishna was close to Arjun, Yuvaraj who plays the character of Krishna is the best friend of Arjun. Playing the humor relief of the film, it is safe to say that Yuvaraj is going to be an actor that the people are going to love much and find themselves very connected to.

Krishna is more than just a character for me. He was a representative of the audience in the film. Wherever you feel something was not right, Krishna would voice that, where ever you feel sad, Krishna will cry for you. Such was the character written by Shalini and credit to her for that and credit to Yuvaraj for the convincing execution.

A good comical actor doesn’t always follow the script and needs to have the ability to improvise scenes and that was very clear that you were able to do so in your performance. That is why I believed your character would be well loved by the audience.

Rating: 3.3/5.0

Hemalata Gnanaprakasam @ Hemaji

After Saresh’s performance, my next favourite performer in the film was without a doubt Hemaji. Despite the limited on screen time you had, you did justice to your character every time you appeared on screen.

I believe you are too making your debut in this film as Sanjana, but the way you performed doesn’t seem to show that. You looked like someone with bags of experience and very calm and natural on screen.

There were two moments of yours in the film which made a lasting impression on me. The first being the part where you mentioned that Arjun loves Amudha in front of everyone in the hall. I burst out laughing for that scene. A comedy that worked so well while you delivered it very casual. Just like how any normal person would pull a prank on another person.

Second was being the way you acted at the interval block. You were very tied down in the scene and had limited space to perform but how you utilized your eyes to convey all the emotions needed to make a strong impact on the audience is one that should be applauded. I firmly believe that is the moment you would have stolen the audience heart away.

For a character that is so pivotal to what TPT was all about, I was very much disappointed with the limited screen time Sanjana had. I felt more moments should have been built around Sanjana and things could have been more impactful considering the importance of your character brings to the film.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Irfan Zaini & Ramkumar Ravichandran

Irfan comes in more of a small character but a very important person in the story line between Arjun and Amudha. Irfan as Science Stream Karthik as mentioned by Shalini in the trailer is the love interest of Amudha in TPT. He plays the role of a very driven and successful businessman who as a result of that loses the emotional loving side of him.

As mentioned despite it being very minimal he was very convincing every time he appeared and does justice to his selection. He brought out the rich classy businessman look with ease.

How Krishna is to Arjun, which is how Ram Kumar is to Raja. He is the villain best friend has a similar feel as to what Krishna is. He plays the role of a very humorous theft and was someone who impressed me very much with his body language and variations in emotions and voice tone. This is another character you will love despite it being a negative one.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Manjula Joseph & P.Jegan

Manjula and Jegan plays two very contrasting parents to two very contrasting sons. Manjula is the sweet loving mum which you wished you had and believes at the right parent’s upbringing is what determines the attitude of the children’s future. You will love her for how lovely and sweet she was in the film.

Jegan however is a father who is an ex criminal and is trying to make up for lost time. He knew that because he was criminal is why his son today is being a criminal. He is willing to go the distance and sacrifice everything he has to bring his son back to the right path. He plays the role with so much of conviction and is something that will stay in your mind.

Rating: 3.2/5.0

The Music

Ztish

What a talent this man is. As strong the story was in the film, Ztish’s music was equally a pivotal strength to TPT. With TPT he goes on to show that there is so much variety in his music and he is just not a heart break song expert.

Theeya Vazhiyile is my personal favourite track from the movie and I loved how it was used in the film too. There are 5 tracks in the film and each song were equally good. Kudos to Ztish for stepping up his game treating us with a musical brilliance in TPT.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Final Verdict: Thirudathey Papa Thirudathey Is Going To Steal Away The Box Office

Final Rating: 3.2/5.0

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