Theevandi

Theevandi has an old-timey charm. It brings to mind the un-pretentious story lines about the common man that was symbolic of mid to late eighties Malayalam cinema. In an age of omnipresent cellphones, missed calls, Whatsapp groups and Facebook posts it is quite an achievement for the story and the script writer to create a realistic blend of digital and analog worlds we seamlessly inhabit.

Tovino Thomas is Bineesh Damodaran, a chain smoking, unemployed young man who dabbles in politics as a hobby in a North Kerala village, somewhere near Kozhikode, would be my guess. The movie tracks his progress from his induction to smoking as a high school-er to the event that leads him to quit it years later, with several comedy gold instances that keep the audience entertained.

Vini Viswalal’s story and script directed by T.P Fellini has in addition to Tovino, Suraj Venjaramoottil, Surabhi Lakshmi, Saiju Kurup, Samyukta Menon, Sudheesh and a bunch of other talented actors. The music by debutante music director Kailas Menon is a perfect fit for the simple yet meaningful lyrics penned by B.K.Harinarayan.

Mayanadhi, Maradona, Theevandi – 2018 has been a rewarding year for Tovino, his smart choice of scripts and directors is paying off pretty well.