Thira (film)

Thira
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Vineeth Sreenivasan
Produced by	Manoj Menon
Screenplay by	Rakesh Mantodi Vineeth Sreenivasan
Story by	Rakesh Mantodi
Starring	Shobana Dhyan Sreenivasan Deepak Parambol Sijoy Varghese
Music by	Shaan Rahman
Cinematography	Jomon T. John
Edited by	Ranjan Abraham
Distributed by	LJ Films & Tricolor Entertainments. Europe - Indian Movies UK Ltd.
Release dates	14 November 2013 (2013-11-14)
Running time	113 minutes .[1]
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Thira (English: Wave) is a 2013 Indian Malayalam thriller film directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan and scripted by his cousin Rakesh Mantodi.^[2] It stars Shobana alongside debutant Dhyan Sreenivasan in the lead roles. The film was produced by Manoj Menon under the banner ReelsMagic and distributed by LJ Films.^[3] Thira was announced to be the first installment in a trilogy of thriller films.^[4] According to Srinivasan, the film was inspired from the book The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine by Somaly Mam.^[5]

The film marks the debut of Vineeth Sreenivasan's younger brother Dhyan Sreenivasan and also the return of actress Shobana to Malayalam cinema after almost a decade.^[3] It was filmed by Jomon T. John and has music composed by Shaan Rahman. Principal photography of the film took place in Hyderabad, Madras, Belgaum and Goa. It was released on 14 November 2013.The film was screened in IFFK 2013. Thira is a Malayalam movie to introduce the concept of casting director.

Plot

The story is set in Karnataka and Goa.^[2][3] Dr. Rohini Pranab (Shobhana), a cardiac surgeon, who gives shelter to destitute girls, is the target of a group of criminals indulging in illegal human trafficking. The girls from her home are taken away by a gang, who also kidnaps the sister of a youth named Naveen (Dhyan Sreenivasan), right in front of his eyes. Now the two are doing all that they can do to trace the criminals along with Rohini's friends who later face some hardships. Both of them at last identify the secret place where the trafficked girls are kept and release them with the wise advice from Rohini and action from Naveen.

Cast

• Shobhana as Dr. Rohini Pranab
• Dhyan Sreenivasan as Naveen
• Deepak Parambol as Deepak
• Sijoy Varghese as Cabinet Minister
• Gaurav Vasudev as Kidnapper
• Amritha Anil as Rhea
• Harikrishnan
• Sabhitha
• Janan Jacob as Bank Manager
• Apoorva Bose (Voice for Amritha Anil)

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack is composed by Shaan Rahman. Lyrics are penned by Anu Elizabeth jose

Critical reception

Nowrunning.com remarked that "Vineeth Sreenivasan's Thira is a thoughtful exploration of a theme that is often discussed in hushed whispers. It's quite resolute in its objective, is extremely detailed, is involving for its most part and is charmingly acted as well."^[6] Oneindia.in rated it 4 out of 5 and says "Here comes a movie which stands apart from the rest of Malayalam films, which entertains the viewers from start to end and makes us crave for more. Yes, Thira by Vineeth Sreenivasan is a well directed, well acted, engaging movie which can be termed as paisa vasool." ^[7] The Times of India gave 3 stars out of 5 and mentioned "The narrative of the film moves at a steady pace despite the predictability that comes along with it".^[8] Sify.com described the film as average, "an okay one-time watch", while pointing out inspirations from the 2007 film, Trade.^[9] The New Indian Express wrote, "Thira is a satisfying thriller carried successfully by lead actress Shobhana".^[10]

Box office

Sify stated that Thira "opened well",^[11] but was "an average grosser" at the end of its run.^[12] Cine Shore reported that the film collected ₹4.02 crore (US$600,000) from 28 days and declared the film's box office performance as "average".^[13]

Sequel

Thira is announced to be the first of the trilogy thriller series by Vineeth Sreenivasan. Vineeth wrote on his official blog, "Thira is not one film. It's a trilogy. If everything goes well by god's grace, Part 1 will be releasing in 2013. Part 2 and Part 3 will follow....". Vineeth also revealed that Thira 2 will have a popular young actor of Mollywood in lead role and he will also star in Thira 3, along with Shobana, who played the lead in Thira. It was speculated that Dulquer Salmaan will be playing the lead role, Amar. But, Dulquer later stated that he is not interested in doing remakes and sequels; and is looking forward for original scripts.

The sequel is planned to be more character oriented, rather than being an extension of Thira. It is confirmed by vineeth that Thira 2 will be focusing more on the character, Amar and the part of Dhyan is over with first film.

Festival screenings

The film was an official selection for the following film festivals:

• Gwinnett Center International Film Festival - International Competition section.

Awards

Vanitha Film Awards^[14]

• Best Actress - Shobhana

Asianet Film Awards

• Best Debut Actor - Dhyan Sreenivasan

References

External links

• Thira at the Internet Movie Database
• Thira - Official Facebook Page