Mammootty, besides being a thinking hero and a fighting hero, has been fabulously successful in portraying the commonest among the common, sans glamour, sans stunts, capturing the imagination of the common as well as the not so common fans. He has added another feather to his cap with his latest role as Samson in Thappana directed by Johnny Antony.
Samson, a good-hearted small time thief coming from a family of burglars, has been in and out of jails as regularly as day and night and on one such occasion when he was released from jail, he meets Mallika who, coincidentally, was released on the same day after unexpectedly undergoing imprisonment for murder. How Samson affects Mallika and her life through their rather unusual and humorous relationship is what Thappana is all about. Mammootty as Samson is in a class of his own with his catchy and absolutely sticky dialogues and his ability to drive the audience into a frenzied state of unstoppable laughter has been a revelation. Charmi as Mallika looks cute and adorable and looks the role. Murali Gopy has done a remarkable job and Suresh krishna has been very apt. Humour is enhanced with some further slapstick comedy from Kalabhavan Shajon, Vijeesh, Mala Aravindan and Vijayaraghavan who have done justice to their parts. Others in the cast include Sadiq, Anil Murali,Sajitha Betti, Geetha Vijayan and Ponnama Babu. Thappana is produced by Milan Jaleel under the banner of Galaxy Films with screenplay being written by M.Sindhuraj.
The movie was shot in the high ranges and the spectacular scenes have been captured vividly in the camera by Rajarathnam. And the effect is doubled with the addition of foot-tapping music of Vidyasagar which is just awesome! Music direction is by Vidyasagar. Lyrics are by Anil Panachooran, Murugan Kattakada and Santhosh Varma. Sindhuraj’s script is consistent and keeps the audience in good humour with its ease and spontaneity. Ranjan Abraham does a fine editing job.
Thappana is an extremely simple movie, with its raw humour and earthy wise cracks. Both the story and the humour could be easily related. There are no major shortcomings and the little ones could be ignored. An ordinary story has been made endearing through some good script writing, spectacular photography, sensible acting and direction. The humour might annoy the prude but provides continuous enjoyment to the rest. A perfect prescription for family audiences. In short, a fairly nice option, if you don’t think too much!
Verdict: Watchable Fare