‘Thrishanku’ movie review: This Anna Ben-Arjun Ashokan film is a reasonably fun ride that pokes fun at traditionalists

A still from ‘Thrishanku’ 

When a couple elopes, more often than not, it sets off a chain reaction of emotional drama which involves a whole lot of family members and tense days or even months or years for the couple. The drama and tension would go up exponentially if the couple happens to be from a different religion or caste. It could even have violent repercussions. But in Achyuth Vinayak’s debut movie Thrishanku, in which two elopements from the same family happen parallelly, it sets off a rather fun ride, which involves two uncles as well.

With Megha (Anna Ben) under pressure from her father to get married, her boyfriend Sethu (Arjun Ashokan) devises an elaborate plan for them to elope. But on the morning that they were supposed to run away, Sethu’s sister Sumi (Zarin Shihab) also elopes with her boyfriend (Shiva Hariharan), spoiling his plans. Though Sethu is ready to abort the plan for the time being, he has to join his two uncles on a mission to find his sister. Now Megha, who has already left her home, is caught in a neither here-nor there ‘Thrishanku’ situation!

The movie, at first glance, might appear to be revolving around the couples, but it is Sethu’s uncles who take centre-stage as the narrative progresses, becoming the source of much humour. One can imagine the thought process that went into writing these two characters, who are certainly inspired from many overbearing uncles we see in real life. While the superstitious uncle (Nandhu) oozes caste pride and is the member of an upper caste organisation, the other (Suresh Krishna) is a bit more rational and open-minded, but old-fashioned nonetheless. Being on a journey with the duo can be quite a daunting prospect for a nephew, who especially has a lot to hide.

The uncles, and the situations they land up in, are so integral to the narrative that one would wonder how boring the whole journey would have been if not for these annoying, but unintentionally-funny uncles. Of course, it is another matter that in real-life, the casteist ones won’t turn out to be so harmless and can make life hell for inter-religious or inter-caste couples. But then, we have movies of more serious ilk to talk about that. The scenes of the duo in a pub, getting a culture shock, are hilarious. So are their exchanges with each other and with Sethu.

For Megha, the eloping is also an escape from her control freak father, a single parent and a former policeman. Unlike the wavering Sethu, she appears as the stronger, decisive one among the two. It is only when it comes to Sethu’s sister Sumi and her boyfriend, that the script appears rushed and seems to convey the opposite of what the movie wanted to say, although there are a few dialogues to explain this. But this part is also useful in exposing Sethu’s hypocrisy.

Though things in the end turn out predictable, without too many hiccups, Thrishanku provides a reasonably fun ride until we reach there.

Thrishanku is currently running in theatres