Thondon movie review: Interesting film sans entertainment values

Cast: Samudhrakani, Sunaina, Vikranth, Soori, Arthana

Director: Samudhrakani

Thondan, directed by Samuthirakani, is a didactic film that begins with some unruly men instigating violence against a person in public. Director Samudhrakani who also plays Maha Vishnu, is an ambulance driver and he takes his job very seriously. So much so that he has dubbed his vehicle as ‘mother.’ Well, connecting both the dots, here’s another incident where his skills as an ambulance driver comes into play and here too, he manages to save the life of this beaten up man.

This doesn’t bode well with a local big shot named Manthiri Narayanan (Namo Narayanan.) Revenge is already on the menu. Sealing the deal is when Narayanan’s brother Chinna Pandi (Soundararajan) breeds trouble in his college by attacking a girl. The classmates including come to her defense and Chinna Pandi eventually succumbs to his wounds. Vishnu’s sister Mahishasura Mardhini (Arthana) was the one who had retaliated first to defend her classmate. Narayanan is now on the hunt for Vishnu and seeks to destroy his entire family.

Then there’s Vishnu’s friend Vicky (Vikranth) who troubles Mahisha. Instead of bashing up, Vishnu gives a long lecture on how he should respect women and earn their love and in turn the former has a change of heart (!). He realizes his mistake and takes up paramedic training.

How the events unfold with all the lessons to be learned forms the reminder of the film.

Samudhrakani is a director that likes to leave behind a lot of messages. He highlights the virtuous aspects of man, pits them against some of the more ugly instances, and places heavy responsibility on individuals to moderate their behaviors. All well and good, but things do become a bit self-righteous and annoying when a fictional film begins to give you lessons on ethics and morality.

Nonetheless, the director does present himself as a ‘larger than life’ figure in Thondan. He takes on his villain with ease, and a lot of screen time seems to have been wasted on unimaginative characters. Sunaina as Kani’s pair is pleasant and does her part well but her intro ghost scene, which is supposed to be a comical one, falls flat. Vikranth has limited scope to perform. Few of Ganja Karuppu’s comic one-liners work. Arthana is okay. Soori and Thambi Ramaiah show up towards the climax and provide the much needed comic relief.

Other aspects such as the music and cinematography are adequate. Kani’s intentions are genuine. To sum up, Thondan is an interesting film sans entertainment values.