Review: Thiru Thiru... provides insane laughter

In many ways, Real Image and Sathyam Cinemas' maiden venture, Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru -- directed by debutante Nandini JS -- is an unapologetic Tamil film in its plot, music, sets and everything. All it promises is about two hours of irrational, insane laughter, a smattering of romance and some action -- not to mention a convoluted kidnapping plot. Does it satisfy this premise? Yes, in a way.

T4 is unapologetic in another aspect -- its complete urbaneness. It is all about slick furnishing, cool houses and up-market lingo, starting from its leading pair Arjun (Ajmal) -- art director and visualizer in boss Srinivasan's (Mouli) company -- and Archana (Rupa Manjari), a quirky girl with a short fuse who has a penchant for reeling off numbers.

The two come together for an ad shoot for Johnson's baby products, headed by a suitably short-fused guy, who demands the impossible in terms of a cute baby for the ad shoots.

Everything goes wrong, from getting the baby -- seemingly orphaned by its mother -- getting the shoot done, handling a harried Srinivasan, who butts in at the wrong moments. Things get worse when Arjun and Archana need to get a contract signed for the baby, and the parents are nowhere to be found.

In a series of incidents filled with humour, slapstick and romance, the two embark on a quest to locate the baby's parents. A grand adventure, seemingly.

It's a fair-enough premise and T4 makes no bones that it will use every bit of slapstick it can find. But there's such a thing as too much of a good thing, so when Ajmal, a cute baby at the best of times, grins toothily too many times, it starts grating on your nerves. The same goes with Rupa Manjari -- you wish her performance had toned down a bit towards the end of the movie.

Fortunately, you have people like Mouli, a veteran in comedy. You realise just how great an actor he is when you watch him interact with youngsters. He lights up the screen. So does the girl, Sarala, who appears briefly as a nurse.

Special mention should be made of Sudheer Choudary, who has made sure the sweetness of the film is preserved throughout. Mani Sharma's music is a washout except for the background score. And the last half hour of the movie could have done with a good deal of trimming.

T4 has a load of mush, fluff and frothiness but that's pretty much it. The film never takes itself seriously. It's the kind of movie you watch when there's nothing else to.

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