Theerppu film review: This dark comedy-thriller starring Prithviraj simply lacks punch

Originally made for an OTT platform, Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Theerppu was released in theatres on Thursday, 25 August. Without much delay, let’s check the film out.

Parameshwaran Potty (Saiju Kurup) and his wife are invited to a luxury resort by his friend Ramkumar Nair (Vijay Babu). It is not just a childhood friends’ get-together but a business meeting as well.

On finding out that Potty’s business is in a soup, Ram evinces interest in investing in it.

Potty accidentally meets Abdulla Marakkar (Prithviraj), another childhood friend. However, he doesn’t tell the latter about meeting Ram.

Meanwhile, Potty and Ram’s business meeting doesn’t go well. Parallelly, we are taken to the 1990s, the past story of the resort and the friends.

Theerppu (Judgement) is directed by Rathish Ambat and written by Murali Gopy. Their previous outing, Kammara Sambhavam, is among my favourites. So, the low hype for Theerppu didn’t affect me.

Look at the list of actors, I thought. But I expected a little more than what I saw.

Not a cleverly constructed script

In terms of writing, I always get the feeling that Murali Gopy is trying to fill two cups of water in one. The same happens here, too.

He discusses almost everything political here — from Germany to Sanghis (RSS supporters), Sudappis (SDPI supporters) to Gandhi, Hitler to Narasimha Rao, and NTR to Babri Masjid.

The script is not so cleverly constructed. It starts like a Hitchcockian thriller but soon shifts from one genre to another, from revenge drama to dark comedy. This is where it loses its path.

Theerppu is a dark comedy-thriller. The thriller part lacks punch and the comedy part comes too late.

The first and last parts were entertaining, but the middle works only partly. The flashback scenes could have been cut down to five minutes or so. It’s pedestrian, and it drags.

Isha Talwar gives it her best

Theerppu packs shading and adequate cinematography by Sunil KS. Visually, it is enjoyable; the location, the house and the production values are really good.

Nevertheless, it must have been difficult for music director Gopi Sundar to figure out the genre, what the film is supposed to be and hence how to make the soundtrack.

Like all his earlier scripts, Murali Gopy creates multiple layers for the characters, especially those of Isha Talwar, Saiju Kurup, and Hannah Reji Koshy.

However, Prithviraj doesn’t seem convincing as Abdulla, who lost everything and is out to seek revenge on Ram.

On the other hand, Isha Talwar gives her best as Mithili — the unhappy wife-business partner of rich businessman Ramkumar. Saiju Kurup too does a good job.

#Theerppu In theatres now. pic.twitter.com/eD6aqUVlgb

— Prithviraj Sukumaran (@PrithviOfficial) August 26, 2022

Preachy social commentary

Usually, movies set in one location with limited actors can drag. We have been through such movies a lot in the past, all thanks to the actors, but Theerppu is an exception.

The main criticism you could level at the film is the injection of social commentary wherever and whenever possible. It keeps on coming. It tries so hard to impress the audience that it becomes somewhat preachy.

Verdict: Theerppu is mildly entertaining.