Thanaha

Story: Two civil police officers get suspended from service as a seasoned theif flees while in their custody. In their efforts to chase him down and get their jobs back, the cops unfortunately open a bigger can of worms.

Review: Thanaha or Tanha is a Hindi word that means 'alone' in English. However, after the 121 minute Malayalam movie, one can't help wondering how the word has any connection with this police tale, which remotely deals with anything related to being alone. It sure does start with an innovative roll of credits showing all the technicians involved, alongside their names, as a song about 'Thanaha' plays in the background. Any connection with the word ends at that point.

The film starts off as two careless, womanising young cops, Roy and Vishnu, let a thief slip off their grip. Predictably, they lose their job but the superiors agree to cancel their suspension if the absconding thief is chased down. Through many logic defying yet funny tactics, Roy and Vishnu try a hand at tracking down the thief James. Little did they know that they are sinking further, deeper into a bigger soup.

There is enough room for hilarity and thrill in this premise and in the first half, the characters crack us up quite a bit. The sequences in which the thief steals a dhoti and the senior cop quizzes the erring officers are extremely funny. Intentional or not, certain scenes are thoroughly enjoyable with all the subtle humour, character predicaments and more. While the first half is more about laughter, the second half tries to wear the garb of a thriller. But the corny twists, outrageously illogical police station sequences and the lazy, unconvincing manner in which it proceeds in the second half makes it a sloppy film, altogether. Priya Prakash Varrier appears in a blink-and-miss-me cameo in the film and if one is not really attentive, you wouldn't even understand it is her.

The film is partly enjoyable but as an entertainer, it doesn't deliver, on the whole.