''Tharangam'' (

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

: തരംഗം) is a 2017 Indian

-language

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

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

film directed by debutante Dominic Arun. 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, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among hi ...

under his banner

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

, and starring

Tovino Thomas Tovino Thomas (born 21 January 1989) is an Indian actor and film producer who prominently works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with the film ''Prabhuvinte Makkal''. His breakthrough roles were in the films ''ABCD'' (2013), '' 7t ...

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 of E. ...

Santhy Balachandran Santhy Balachandran is an Indian film and theatre actress who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. She made her feature film debut as the heroine in the 2017 Malayalam comedy thriller film Tharangam (2017 film), ''Tharangam'', opposite to To ...

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

Plot

The movie tells about Pappan, a cop along with the struggles led with Joy.C. They land in trouble while investigating Ommana, who is the wife of a dreaded don named Raghu. They cross paths with a smuggler Siju, and Raghu, which leads to a chaotic situation.

Cast

as Padmanabhan "Pappan" *

as Joy. C *

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'', star ...

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, Jam ...

as Christopher Luke * Vijaya Raghavan as Menon *

Manoj K Jayan Manoj Kadampoothramadom Jayan also known as Manoj K.Jayan is an Indian actor of Malayalam and Tamil films. He has also done a few Telugu and Kannada films and has also acted in a Bollywood film. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for Se ...

as Antony Gonsalvez *

Shammy Thilakan Shammi Thilakan is an Indian actor and dubbing artist who is active in Malayalam films. He is the son of veteran actor Thilakan. He lent his voice for Napoleon in ''Devasuram'', Prem Nazir in ''Kadathanadan Ambadi'' and for Nassar in ''Ghaza ...

as Tharian *

Saiju Kurup Saiju Kurup (born 12 March 1979) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and occasionally in Tamil cinema. He is credited as Anirudh in Tamil movies. He debuted in ''Mayookham'' (2005) by Hariharan. As of June 2021, he h ...

as Siju * Alencier Ley Lopez as Ittymani * Abin Paul as Jimmy * Unni Lalu as Deepu * Sarath Sabha as Appukuttan *

Unni Mukundan Unnikrishnan Mukundan (born 22 September 1987), commonly known as Unni Mukundan, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Telugu and Tamil films. Unni Mukundan made his acting debut with the Ta ...

as Reghu (Cameo appearance)

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 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 regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

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 ''Malayala 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 22 March 1888, and currently has ...

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'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

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 Dhanya Rajendran, Chitra Subramaniam and Vignesh Vellore in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, And ...

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 Indian English-language daily newspaper founded by Rajagopal Mudaliar in the 1930s & currently owned by Samagrah Commercial Pvt Limited. It is published in Hyderabad, Telangana, by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited ( ...

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 Naid ...

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