The editing (by Sreenath S) could have been smoother - we have a whole bunch of characters moving in and out of the story in quick succession and it's hard to keep track of which subplot they're referring to sometimes - to sum it up, there's an idol being smuggled and a necklace that carries the ashes of a dreaded gangster's father - somewhere down the line, the blokes (and lasses) who are after both these objects cross paths and the aftermath is what forms the core of 'Tharangam'. The first half certainly scores higher in terms of the laughter generated and in the unraveling of twists - the second tries too hard to match up but doesn't quite hit the expected peak - culminating in an every-character-at-the-same-spot finale reminiscent of late 80s/early 90s comedy capers. The ensemble try their best to make things work and have to say they succeed to a great extent. Everyone possesses shades of grey, is selfish, and makes fun of each other at first-given opportunity. The universe that the director places these characters in, is harshly hysterical in itself. It's good to see Dominic Arun and his co-writer Anil Narayanan acknowledge the fact (during the opening credits) that they're heavily inspired by the works of Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and Edgar Wright (who are true masters of dark humor!) - the vibe is exactly that of a 'Snatch' or a 'Pulp Fiction' or a 'Hot Fuzz', with a tinge of 'Priyadarshanisms' and 'Siddique-Lalisms' thrown in to indianize the proceedings. This takes our protagonists on a roller-coaster ride from one funny subplot to the other, with a truckload of characters (each with their own wacky sense of humor) trying to tickle the viewer's funny bone during the most uncanny of occasions (like a stabbing gone wrong, a suicide, an apparently cheating wife, a girlfriend who happens to be a kleptomaniac, a case of the wrong person getting kidnapped). Pappan has to repay Ittymani (Alencier Ley) a lumpsum he'd taken from him as a bribe for covering up a hit-n-run incident. The story soon shifts to two cops who are on suspension - Pappan (the sensational Tovino Thomas) and Joy (Balu Varghese, who's just too good at playing the side-kick), due to a botched operation that resulted in the untimely (and completely funny) demise of one of their superiors (Manoj K Jayan, in a cameo). We already get a feeling that this movie is by all means, NOT going to look like the typical comedy- thriller that we're used to seeing in Malayalam cinema. The beginning of Dominic Arun's "Tharangam" (bankrolled by Dhanush's Wunderbar films) reminds you of a cult- classic from the 80s - "Pappan Priyapetta Pappan" - set in paradise, a conversation ensues between God (the funniest on-screen version of him at least, played by Dileesh Pothan) and Kallan Pavithran (who was beaten to death and now observes his offspring suffer too, as the karmic outcome of all his criminal deeds), half the stretch shown in a comic-book styled animation with voice-overs, and the other half featuring the actors themselves.
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