Thakarachenda Malayalam Movie
Avira Rebecca's debut venture Thakarachenda, when assessed as an offbeat film, leaves much to be desired, but at the same time stands out with regard to the choice of subject, the manner of the narrative and the performance of the lead player Sreenivasan. The issues that he deals with in the film make it watchable.
Thakarachenda takes us to a slum in Ernakulam, where the protagonist of the film, Chakrapani, a one-legged beggar lives. Also living in the slum is Latha, who has two children, and who survives by working as a maid in a house. Another woman Vasanthi too lives in the slum with her two children and a drunkard of a husband who is of no use to anybody and who keeps causing endless trouble to her and her children. The story of the film is woven around these characters.
The way the people of the slum drag on in life, the way their relationships fare, the way their right to subsistence and their dreams are trampled underfoot by those in power, the way people all around try to exploit them - all these are part of the plot. The story reaches its climax when the government takes steps to get rid of the slum in order to go on with developmental activities and the slum-dwellers find that they have nowhere to go. What happens then forms the rest of the plot.
The film belongs mainly to Sreenivasan, who handles the role of Chakrapani with ease and lends life to all shades of his character convincingly. Geethu Mohandas as Latha is unimpressive in the first reels, but picks up later and is rather impressive towards the end of the film. Seema G. Nair as Vasanthi is good. Others in the cast are just OK. The director seems not to have paid much attention to the performances of the children, who sometimes act rather amateurishly.
The technical aspects of the film are in tune with the theme and tempo. The background score too is good. Had the director handled the script and the acting department a little better, the film would have been far more engrossing. He deserves to be appreciated however, for having dared to tread a new track and narrate a story that has universal significance.
