‘Oru Thekkan Thallu Case’ movie review: Punching down under its weight

Across Kerala, men with overly fragile egos seem to be fighting each other to the death, a subject the industry has churned out over the years. They represent almost every region from the high ranges to the coast. But, thankfully, each of these films has a flavor of its own, which isn’t just because of the different locations and time periods.

Shreejit. n’s first film Oru Thekkan Thallu Case Most of its content is from the popular short story by GR Indugopan Ammini Pillai Vettu Case, with some deviation only towards the end. Ammini Pillai (Biju Menon), a larger-than-life figure in a quaint village in southern Kerala, becomes a thorn in the flesh for Podiyan (Roshan Mathew), in what seems like a minor brawl. He hatches a conspiracy with his friends to hit back at Ammini Pillai in order to satisfy his broken ego, a decision that will have far more implications than they can imagine.

Ammini Pillai’s Vidya is similar to that of Ayyappan ayyappanum koshiyum, with repeated mentions of a “45-minute fight”, in which he was the last one. One of his opponents says that he has a bird’s eye view of all the happenings in the area, from the top of a lighthouse of which he is the gatekeeper. If that wasn’t enough, a giant king cobra is caught by its tail and waving it around in a scintillating stage play as the entire village marvels. But these are some of the high points in what is an otherwise well-known, lengthy, drawn-out treatment for a story that promised so much for the screen.

One thing that the film gets right is that it has created a relationship between Rukmini (Padmapriya), Ammini Pillai’s wife, and Podian’s girlfriend Vasanti (Nimisha Sajayan). Both of these are very much integral to the proceedings, rather than the audience affected by the swagger and violence committed by men only. At times, it seems that Rukmini is more eager to take revenge on her husband and maintain her honor in the village. Vasanti is also depicted as a man who doesn’t care how the people of the village will judge him for his actions.

With the focus of the story being how Ammini Pillai seeks her revenge, the script manages to keep the interest alive until a point when it turns back on some of her opponents. But after that, there isn’t much left for you to catch up on as the story follows a similar pattern, just with a few surprises. What could have been a lot of flashy drama when fit in 90 minutes, has been turned into a bloated product in 150 minutes.

With its stable treatment, Oru Thekkan Thallu Case Exhales fire from a fascinating story, and punches under its weight.