Make sure you have enough popcorn before stepping in to watch Thattassery Koottam because there is nothing else to hold your interest till three-fourths of the movie is over. The last 30 minutes is where the story falls into the track but, sadly, even that is spoilt by the convoluted ending.
The story about a group of young men is a familiar theme in Malayalam movies. Staying true to that template, the youngsters are shown bonding over drinking, ogling women, and lazing around. Arjun Ashokan, Ganapathy, Unni Rajan P Dev, Appu, and Anish Gopal are convincing as friends who are willing to walk that extra mile for each other.
Arjun (Sanjeev) in the lead role, comes good in the movie as a talented but aimless youngster who claims to be studying for the civil service examination. Although he hails from a reputed goldsmith’s family, Arjun wants to have nothing to do with it, although his uncle (Vijayaraghavan) has taught him the craft. However, circumstances force him to make an ornate neckpiece for a valued client of his uncle’s. Arjun opens Pandora’s box when he loans it to Athira (Priyamvada in a lacklustre role) for a rampwalk.
To save face and to help his nephew, his uncle decides to open a jewellery shop for Sanjeev. Unfortunately, the shop is looted on the eve of its inauguration, and that’s when the movie gains some traction.
The friends decide to track down the villains... but that part of the story has nothing to do with the first half of the film (but for the appearance of the five friends). Finally, they retrieve their stolen jewellery, and open the shop and that is when Dileep puts in a cameo appearance as Abbas’ elder brother! That is the advantage of being a producer. After all the others actors do the hard work, the producer appears in this superhero role (surprise, surprise) and cleans up the mess.
Anoop Padmanabhan’s maiden directorial venture has a screenplay and dialogues by Santosh Echikanam and a story by Geo PV. The mindless storyline and the director’s lack of experience are evident as the film meanders through till the interval and then some more, with some punchlines providing a few weak laughs here and there. Anoop, Dileep’s brother, has certainly taken several cues from his brother’s films.
Even the presence of competent actors such as Siddique, Sreelakshmi and Mammukoya cannot inject life into the plot. Moreover, throughout the film, the hero goes zipping around on a bike with never a helmet anywhere near him!
With Malayalam cinema making great strides in the selection of themes, narratives and treatment, along comes Thattassery Koottam thathas decided to stick to the old, disappointing tropes.
Thattassery Koottam is currently running in theatres
