Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum Review - a realistic thriller

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, Dileesh Pothan’s second film after Maheshinte Prathikaram had the burden expectations on its shoulders because of the success of the first film. Coming to Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, the film is definitely a quality product from Dileesh Pothan and if you were someone who managed to get into the nuances we have seen in Maheshinte Prathikaaram, this one will also entertain you. Instead following a story structure, this movie invests its time in defining characters.

Prasad is a farmer and he got married to Sreeja against the wishes of her family. The couple has shifted to Kasargod and during one bus journey a thief steals Sreeja’s gold chain and swallows it. The theft case is now under police investigation and the movie is about the things that happen during this time.

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum is slightly different from your usual conflict solving format. It is treated as a suspense drama with a humorous touch for a majority of its runtime. But by the time we finish it becomes an essay on each character in the film. There is a flow to everything that is happening on screen and within that they have managed to say a lot. The equation between Prasad and Sreeja goes through all the natural outbursts. The scene were the writer took a dig at the honor concerned parents was a clever one. Similar to Action Hero Biju, we get to see a very realistic police station in this movie. The thief character indeed has mysterious agenda and elements that make the open end climax of the film a bit puzzling.

With those extremely expressive eyes of his, Fahadh Faasil becomes the character of the thief with ease. There is a weirdness to the kind of determination this character shows in hiding the truth and Fahadh’s performance was so good that audience will also feel the confusion the characters in the movie feel. Suraj Venjaramood skillfully underplays his character without any exaggerations. Newcomer Nimisha Sajayan impresses as Sreeja and Srinda was a good choice for the dubbing. Alecier Ley was also good as the police officer. The actors who played the roles of SI, CI and that policeman who gets scolded for not wearing uniform makes an impressive debut.

Dileesh Pothan continues his realistic approach towards content. This time he has gone a bit darker in terms of treatment and even after doing that, there is enough subtle humor in the content to make it engaging. Caste issues, mob behavior and even certain ecological issues are there in the narrative which manages to get enough spot light. The screenplay has skillfully infused little nuances of police investigations and the dialogues make it look more sensible. Rajeev Ravi’s frames have this quality of not making camera angles dramatic and he puts us in the middle of the action. The BGMs are minimal and effective and the movie has got some great music.

It is not a movie like Maheshinte Prathikaram if you look at the story. Treatment oriented similarities are there discretely. But largely Thondimuthalum Drisakshiyum is a creation that tries to dive in to the character arcs.