''Tharangam'' () is a 2017 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

film directed by Dominic Arun in his directorial debut. It was the first Malayalam film produced by

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...

under his banner

Wunderbar Films Wunderbar Films is an Indian film production and distribution company established by actor Dhanush and his ex-wife Aishwarya, on 20 May 2010. Based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it mainly produces and distributes Tamil films, and occasionally Malay ...

, and starring

Tovino Thomas Tovino Thomas (born 21 January 1989) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with the film ''Prabhuvinte Makkal''. His breakthrough roles were in the films '' ...

Balu Varghese Balu Varghese is an Indian actor and singer who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He began his acting career as a child actor in '' Chanthupottu'' (2005). Early life and career Balu Varghese was born in Kochi. He is the son o ...

, Santhy Balachandran in the lead roles. Ashwin Renju is the music director. The film was released in India on 29 September 2017.

Plot

A covert mission gone wrong lands cops Pappan and Joy on serious trouble. Their investigation on Omana, a rich businessman's wife, leads them to further chaos as they cross paths with Siju, a smuggler and Raghu, a dreaded don.

Cast

as Padmanabhan "Pappan" *

Unni Mukundan Unnikrishnan Mukundan (born 22 September 1987), popularly known as Unni Mukundan, is an India, Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Unni made his acting debut with the Tamil film ''Seedan'' (2011). Afte ...

as Raghu ( cameo) *

as Joy C * Santhy Balachandran as Malini (Malu) * Neha Iyer as Omana *

Dileesh Pothan Dileesh Philip (born 19 February 1980), also known as Dileesh Pothan is an Indian film director, actor and producer, who works in Malayalam cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2016 comedy drama film '' Maheshinte Prathikaaram'', sta ...

as God *

Sijoy Varghese Sijoy Varghese (born 6 March 1971) is an Indian actor and advertising filmmaker. He has been involved in advertising and cinema for 20 years. As an actor he has portrayed characters in Malayalam films including '' Bangalore Days'', '' Avatharam ...

as Christopher Luke *

Vijaya Raghavan Narayanapillai Vijayaraghavan, known mononymously as Vijayaraghavan, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He is known for his character roles. He is the son of drama and cinema artist N. N. Pillai. Early life and fa ...

as Menon *

Manoj K Jayan Manoj Kadampoothramadam Jayan, also known as Manoj K. Jayan is an Indian actor who acts in Malayalam films in addition to a few Tamil films. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor for his portrayals of Hariharan's "Ku ...

as Antony Gonsalvez *

Shammi Thilakan Shammi Thilakan is an Indian actor and dubbing artist who works in Malayalam films. He is the son of veteran actor Thilakan. He has lent his voice for actors such as Napoleon in ''Devasuram'', Prem Nazir in ''Kadathanadan Ambadi'' and for Nas ...

as Tharian *

Saiju Kurup Saiju Govinda Kurup (born 12 March 1979) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam and Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri ...

as Siju *

Sanju Sivram Sanju Sivram is an Indian actor primarily known for his work in Malayalam cinema. He made his debut in 2012 with the film '' Nee Ko Njaa Cha'', a major hit that helped usher in the new generation wave in Malayalam films. His next notable project ...

as Nandu *

Alencier Ley Lopez Alencier Ley Lopez is an Indian film and theatre actor, who appears in Malayalam films. Lopez made his debut in the 1998 film '' Daya''; and he worked in films like '' Annayum Rasoolum'' (2013), '' Njan Steve Lopez'' (2013), and '' Maheshinte P ...

as Ittymani * Abin Paul as Jimmy * Unni Lalu as Deepu * Sarath Sabha as Appukuttan

Production

''Tharangam'' is the first

film produced by Tamil actor

.Sukumar Thekkepat was the executive producer of the film. It is the directorial debut of Dominic Arun, who has previously directed short films. The film is made as a

.
indianexpress.com (27 May 2017). Retrieved on 27 May 2017.

Release

''Tharangam'' was released in 106 screens across

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

on 29 September 2017.

Critical response

Critic Veeyen writes: "Tharangam' is a wickedly dark movie and one crazy ride, a work of comic insanity that asks you to buckle your seat belts on, simply feel the air rush against your face and let things be." He later on adds, "It could only be a real zany mind that would have the nerve to start off his film as this, and Dominic Arun within minutes has the audience dropping their jaws – either in amazement or in morbid fear of what's in store for the next couple of hours." Anagha Jayan E from

Malayala Manorama '' Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew, it was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1888, and currently has a rea ...

wrote: Dominic Arun's Tharangam unfurls its suspense-thriller plot in a very unconventional black-comedy mood. A normal action-thriller movie by all other means, Tharangam wangles an offbeat stamp through an avant-garde style of narration that fiddles with fantasy and magic realism. Anjana George for

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote : Dominic Arun has successfully tried to serve a fantasy thriller which is a blend of Priyadarshan and Quentin Tarantino movies. It has well-narrated romance, suspense, action and emotions. If you are in the mood for a thrilling, fantasy movie, Tharangam is your best bet this season. Soumya Rajendran for

The News Minute ''The News Minute'' is an Indian digital news platform based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Vignesh Vellore who is also the current CEO in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, ...

rated Tharangam as 'A smart black comedy with a superb screen play'and wrote Debut director Dominic Arun's Tharangam is a smart black comedy with a racy screenplay and intricate plot. Deepthi Sreenivasan for

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

rated Tharangam as 'Tovino's comic timing is spot on, complemented by Balu's performance'. Full of twists that would keep one on their toes, Tharangam is an unconventional black comedy, that visits Malayali screens rarely. Meena Suresh for

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...

said 'What makes Tharangam very unique is its narrative style. It manages to blend in fantasy and realism'

References

External links

* {{Wunderbar Films 2017 films 2010s Malayalam-language films Indian black comedy films Indian fantasy films Indian fantasy comedy films 2017 directorial debut films Films produced by Dhanush