Thambi (2019 film)

Thambi
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jeethu Joseph
Screenplay by	Rensil D'Silva Sameer Arora Jeethu Joseph K. Manikandan
Story by	Rensil D'Silva Sameer Arora
Produced by	Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Suraj Sadanah
Starring	Karthi Jyothika Sathyaraj Nikhila Vimal
Cinematography	R. D. Rajasekhar
Edited by	V. S. Vinayak
Music by	Govind Vasantha
Production companies	Viacom18 Studios Parallel Minds Productions
Distributed by	Viacom18 Studios
Release date	20 December 2019 (2019-12-20)
Running time	151 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Thambi (transl. Brother) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Jeethu Joseph. Co-written by Rensil D'Silva, Sameer Arora, Jeethu Joseph and K. Manikandan, it was jointly produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Parallel Mind Productions. Starring Karthi, Jyothika and Sathyaraj, the film follows a young man who is believed to be a local politician's long-lost son but has his identity questioned by the politician's daughter. The film co-stars Nikhila Vimal, Anson Paul, Bala, Sowcar Janaki, and Seetha. The music for the film was composed by Govind Vasantha.

Thambi was released on 20 December 2019, receiving praise for the performances, action sequences and writing.^[1] Despite the mixed reception, the film became a commercial success.^[2][3]

Plot[]

The film starts with a fight between two teenagers Saravanan and Manimaran, where Saravanan is hit on the head by Manimaran and faints. Manimaran is forced to run away, leaving the fainted Saravanan on top of a lorry. The scene then shifts to 15 years later at the house of Gnanamoorthy (Sathyaraj), a politician in the Mettupalayam district, who lives with his wife Padma (Seetha), daughter Parvathy (Jyothika), and his mother (Sowcar Janaki). Parvathy spends her days in sorrow, hoping that her aggressive younger brother Saravanan (Navneeth Madhav), who had left the home 15 years ago, would return home. Her family, too believes that the miracle may happen one day.

One day, Moorthy receives a call from Jeevanand (Ilavarasu), who tells him that his long-lost son is found. Moorthy finds out that his "son" is Vicky (Karthi), a trickster and tourist guide in Goa. Moorthy takes Saravanan back to his house, where Padma is elated at seeing her son. However, Parvathy does not show any affection and keeps shunning Vicky. Saravanan's childhood friend and lover Sanjana (Nikhila Vimal) is also elated to reunite with 'Saravanan'. Later, it is revealed that Jeeva and Vicky had put a plan that Vicky would act as Saravanan for a while and would steal some money and escape. Jeeva and Vicky would then share the bounty. Saravanan's friend Karan (Anson Paul), who is a police officer, doubts whether Vicky is actually Saravanan, and feels his doubts are confirmed when he asks Vicky about their childhood and he blabbers. But Parvathy shuns Karan from trying to disprove Vicky/Saravanan because, anyway, the joy in the family has come back upon his arrival. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Moorthy is actually the one who had made Jeeva make Vicky act as Saravanan. When Jeeva blackmails Moorthy for two crores, Moorthy kills Jeeva and puts the blame on Manimaaran (Bala), who was Saravanan's friend who hit him in the head at the beginning of the movie, and is now a local politician who wants to build a resort in the nearby village.

Karan doubts Vicky in his involvement in the murder since he shows up at Jeeva's house to remove the evidence that he is a fraud. Karan doesn't find any evidence tying Moorthy or Vicky to the murder and arrests Manimaaran. It is revealed to the audience that Moorthy had entered the house once again and removed all the evidence. While Vicky is driving around in a car, he is hit by a lorry and narrowly escapes death. Another attack in the house confirms his suspicions that someone is trying to kill Saravanan and sets out to find what really happened to Saravanan. After tracing Saravanan's steps that night, he finds the lorry that hit him, and on interrogating the driver, it is revealed that the perpetrator is Moorthy's right-hand man Sudhakar (Hareesh Peradi), who was angry that Saravanan had come back and he would lose the position of MLA to Saravanan.

Finally, from a clue by Saravanan's girlfriend Sanjana (Nikhila Vimal), Vicky deduces that Saravanan had come back (he had fought with his mother and sister and was the reason for Moorthy's mother's condition) and in the anger that Saravanan was the cause of his mother's paralysis, Moorthy had killed him accidentally and used the sympathy to earn votes. On confronting him, Moorthy offers Vicky money to keep the matter quiet, but Vicky tells Padma, who is also aware of the truth. Finally, Parvathy holds Vicky at gunpoint and reveals the truth.

After Saravanan had fought with his mother and sister and pushed his grandmother down the stairs, Padma and Parvathy take Moorthy's mother to the hospital. Meanwhile, Saravanan, who was hit on the head in a fight with his friend Manimaran, manages to escape and returns home in his bike. Moorthy and Parvathy comes back to the house and sees Saravanan in a drugged state. In a fit of rage, he keeps beating Saravanan, but when Saravanan hits him back in a drug-fueled rage, Moorthy breaks down. Parvathy tries to console her father and finds that Saravanan was doing drugs. She throws the drugs away, and Saravanan tries to choke her. In desperation, Parvathy grabs the nearest weapon and accidentally slits his throat, and Saravanan dies. In order to save his family's reputation, Moorthy fabricates a story where Saravanan had run away. Saravanan's body was interred in the forest area where the resort is now proposed to be built. Shocked at the revelation, Vicky decides to leave the house, and at the train station, Parvathy says that she had really accepted Vicky as her brother. The film ends with Vicky/Saravanan and Parvathy driving back to their home.

Cast[]

Production[]

In February 2019, it was announced that Karthi and Jyothika would be sharing screen space together for the first time under the direction of Jeethu Joseph.^[4] Later, Govind Vasantha and R. D. Rajasekhar was confirmed to be the film's music director and cinematographer respectively.^[5]

Principal photography began in mid April 2019.^[6] The film was completed in a single schedule.^[7] It was shot extensively in Palakkad, Goa, Coimbatore, and Ooty.^[8] The film's title revealed to be Thambi on 15 November 2019, while also revealing that the Telugu version of the film was titled as Donga.^[9]

Music[]

The soundtrack is composed by Govind Vasantha,^[10] and the audio rights of the film were acquired by Lahari Music. The audio launch of this film was held at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai on 30 November 2019, in the presence of Jyothika, Karthi and Suriya, who attended the event as the chief guest, along with the film's cast and crew.^[11] The album features four tracks with an instrumental theme music, and the lyrics for the songs were written by Vivek and Karthik Netha.

The Times of India, reviewed it as "the album is a treat to ears, with each song having a refreshing musical touch."^[12]

The album of the film's Telugu version titled ''Donga'' was released on 7 December 2019.

All lyrics are written by Ramajogayya Sastry.

Release[]

Thambi was released on 20 December 2019. The theatrical rights of the Tamil version were acquired by Sakthi Film Factory.^[13] while Ravuri V. Srinivas, acquired the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana distribution rights under their Harshitha Movies banner.^[14] The film was also dubbed and released in Hindi as My Brother Vicky on YouTube by Goldmines Telefilms on 29 November 2020.^[15]

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Sify rated 3.5 out of 5 stars stating, "Thambi is an engaging watch for the solid performances of the lead actors and very unlike most thrillers you’ve seen recently."^[16] The Times of India rated 3 out of 5 stars stating "The movie manages to entertain with ample suspense and family moments, which keep us guessing till the end – there’s an interesting twist towards the end of the first half and another appealing one in the climax, too. But the slow screenplay should have had more moments to make it a proper edge-of-the-seat film. Though the entire plot revolves around sister-brother bonding, we get only a few emotional moments between Karthi and Jyotika. A tighter screenplay with more emotional connect would have done wonders."^[17]

Firstpost rated 3 out of 5 stars stating, "An impressive performance by Karthi powers Jeetu Joseph's engaging thriller."^[18] The Indian Express rated 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "This Karthi and Jyotika starrer could have been so much more but settles for much less."^[19] India Today rated 3 out of 5 stars stating "Thambi’s runtime seems to be a little longer and a taut screenplay would have made wonders to the overall film. Yet, the film has brilliant twists that will have you engrossed in it."^[20]

Behindwoods rated 2.5 out of 5 stars stating, "The twists, an engaging second half and powerful lead performances make Thambi a watchable suspense thriller."^[21] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "It’s easy — actually, not so easy, but at least, it’s the lesser of the evils — to ignore the badly shot songs, the badly staged action scenes, the badly executed tone shifts, or even the all-round badness of the performances. The director encourages everyone to mug madly — every reaction shot from Karthi is like a wink to the audience. But what else can the poor man do, when given impossible scenes like the ones that have him talking to his conscience in various mirrors?"^[22]

Box office[]

In 10 days, the film grossed around ₹19 crore in Tamil Nadu.^[23]

References[]

External links[]

• Thambi at IMDb