Thankam movie review: A compelling murder mystery that has a unique twist
Written by on January 27, 2023
The biggest mystery of all is what goes into the depth of one’s heart. How much do we really know our near and dear ones? How much of what they say or do is reflective of what’s happening inside their head? In the garb of a murder mystery, Thankam leaves us with such emotional questions at the cost of the final act becoming a bit underwhelming. However, I would argue that if the end of the actions of Kannan (Vineeth Sreenivasan) turn out to be starkly in contrast with what was expected of him, then that’s the success of the director Saheed Arafath and writer Syam Pushkaran.
Kannan comes across as this affable, composed working-class hero, who seems to be in complete control of things. He is a ‘gold rider’, who takes ornaments from Thrissur and supplies them to jewelers across Mumbai. In return, he gets raw gold biscuits or coins, which are turned into ornaments by his business partner Muthu (Biju Menon). Now, the film kicks off with a brilliant song that pretty much establishes the demeanour of Kannan. Muthu seems to depend on him. Kannan’s assurance in the worst of situations seems to be enough for Muthu to be at peace. Kannan knows things and within a few minutes into the film, we understand that Kannan is up to something.
One day, Kannan convinces Muthu and their other partner (Vineeth Thattil) to come to Coimbatore with him, where he treats them to great Tamil Nadu food and also sets up two sex workers for them to spend the night with. He then takes Muthu’s car to Salem, from where he would head off to Mumbai. Things don’t go as per plan as Kannan gets caught by police on the way. After the initial hiccups, Kannan reaches Mumbai and then goes awol. Suspicions arise whether Kannan has eloped with several kilos of gold, but he is found dead in the lodge, which quickly sets off a murder investigation. However, the writing and the direction of Thankam are such that, the viewer expects Kannan to surprise us even when his wife and family are convinced he is pretty much dead.
The investigation headed by a Mumbai police officer (Girish Kulkarni) slowly unravels what Kannan was up to and the truth behind the alleged murder. The writing is pretty ingenious that the plot starts off within a few minutes into the film, and the story keeps one engrossed till the very end of the film. The humour that’s infused in the everyday events of the film is thoroughly enjoyable. Added to it are the incredible performances of all the actors. Biju Menon embodies the traits of a common innocent man, who is flawed. The air of affability he emanates makes us root for him. On the other hand, Vineeth Srinivasan, despite having relatively less screen time, stays with us throughout the film. Girish Kulkarni, as a ‘Maharashtra police investigating a mallu case in Tamil Nadu’, is a treat to watch. He is a small man but casts a huge shadow of power and command.
In a way, Thankam is a character study of everyday people. It is mostly about Kannan and the length he goes to come across as someone he is not. It’s about the facade humans wear to not show what they really are inside. One can argue that the big reveal doesn’t justify all the build-up of the film, but that is just reflective of Kannan’s life. He is not what we wanted him to be. He didn’t pull an elephant out of the hat. He didn’t surprise us the way we expected him to, because we didn’t see through him. That’s the biggest twist of Thankam.
