Thrisanku – My Flash Review!

There was a time when Malayalam cinema was a factory for comedy films of great quality. These were the heydays of the famed Mohanlal-Srinivasan combo when clean comedy films of the slapstick genre used to regale us no end. Priyadarshan took many of these films to Bollywood with a lot of success until the predictability of the genre and the repetitiveness of the cast started wearing us down.  Of late, Malayalam films have become renowned for being serious, slow and real while predominantly showcasing dark themes. In this background, Thrishanku, a new Malayalam film that is now streaming on Netflix takes us back to the comedy genre after a long while and is a good watch.

Coming to the story, it starts with the lead couple – the boy coming from a conservative family and the girl being brought up by a single dad that too an Ex-cop, who are lovers, deciding to elope on a particular day and live happily ever after. While the girl reaches the bus stand promptly, the boy couldn’t, as at the same time, his family discovers that his sister has also eloped with a man. What follows is a comedy of errors, of mixed identities and of mixed-up circumstances.

With the premise nicely endearing itself to a non-stop fun ride, Director Achyuth Vinayak who has also co-written the film with Ajith Nair, keep us engaged for the rest of the film with some great writing.  The actors also play their part in navigating through the dark humour portions with finesse. Where the film stammers is towards the end when the knots are about to be opened. The writers instead of sticking to the chaotic template, choose to stabilise things which is when the film loses its mojo.

Anna Ben, who plays the role of the girl characterised as being confident, level-headed and intelligent, is as usual brilliant.  Arjun Ashokan plays the role of the boy in what I thought was an underwhelming performance. It doesn’t help that his character is not sketched properly.  While initially he comes across as a confident and fun-loving guy which is what endears him to Anna’s character, in later portions he is shown as a frivolous guy who doesn’t have any ideas or opinions of his own. The girl saves the day on many occasions for the boy whose characterisation is so weak that we wonder what she saw in him.

The comedy on screen is kept alive by the supporting characters who fish in the jumbled waters created by the confusing situations. The pick of the lot among the supporting cast is actor Nandhu, who comes across as a hybrid of actors Innocent and Jagathy Sreekumar – masters of slapstick comedy.  The background score by Jay Unnithan which I found different in the beginning, becomes a bit invasive towards the end. Overall, the film is made well.

Thrishanku, in line with the title, lands somewhere from being an outstanding comedy film and a good comedy film.  It is a clean entertainer and is a good and easy watch on a lazy weekend.