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Other Critic Reviews
Even more disappointing than the film's loyalty to the prescribed plot, is its emotional conformity. This is too much of mock-intellectual matter that's deader than a roasted lobster.

1 Stars
By VN
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(2 / 5) : Average 2 / 5
'Thaavalam', Baiju 2D's debut directorial venture, fails to impress on the whole, but the film shows promises of a successful career for the director.
- Thomas T    Tue, 16 Sep 2008
'Thaavalam', Baiju 2D's debut directorial venture, fails to impress on the whole, but the film shows promises of a successful career for the director, who has managed to keep things under his control to a very great extent.

'Thaavalam' tells the story of Sivan, an orphan who has as his mentor Panicker, who runs a way-side eatery. Sivan assists Panicker in running the eatery, making 'parathas' and doing all kinds of odd jobs there. One day, when a goon named Gowri comes to eat at the shop, Sivan sees the legs of a girl sticking out of Gowri's jeep. He finds out that it is a girl whom Gowri and his gang are trying to kidnap. He fights them and frees the girl. Gowri accidentally happens to stab one of his accomplices to death and is jailed for that. Sivan marries the girl, whose name is Kanakam, but she dies a year later, during childbirth.

The story then takes us forward in time and we see Sivan working as a cobbler near a bus stop, with his daughter Meenakshi staying close to him. Panicker and his wife Shanthamma are still his well-wishers and take care of him and his daughter.

There is a band of wandering gypsies, of which Thamara is a member. Thamara loves Sivan and has a liking for Meenakshi too. But Sivan doesn't care a whit for her, since he is still in love with his dead wife. Sivan and Panicker know very well that when Gowri comes out of jail, he would come seeking them. What happens then forms the rest of the plot.

The main flaw as far as 'Thaavalam' is concerned is in the casting. The director deserves to be appreciated for having chosen to tell the poignant story of a cobbler, that too in a commercial flick. But Suresh Gopi as the hero seems to be a misfit as far as this deglamorised role is concerned. Nothing, save his make-up, seems to be okay. He fails miserably in bringing alive the protagonist. His mannerisms, his dialogue delivery and his emoting don't have any semblance to that of a real-life cobbler.

Sindhu Menon as Kanakam is just about okay. She doesn't have much to do in the film in any case. Debutante Rithya Menon as Thamara puts up a very poor performance. Nedumudi Venu as Panicker is his usual self, though his portrayal seems to be rather dull at times. Meena Ganesh as the lunatic Kaliyamma impresses, while Salim Kumar and Bijukuttan are just so so. Sreejith Ravi as Gowri doesn't do anything different. Baby Diya as Meenakshi is just like any other child artist. None of the characters speak or behave like what they are, except to some extent the members of the gypsy group. If the scenarist and the director had paid attention to this aspect, the film would have been much better.

There's nothing much to be said about Anandakuttan's cinematography or music by Natesh Shankar, who sets to tune songs by Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma - songs that are eminently forgettable. It's the storyline and the very striking climax that stands out in the film. The director has managed to present whatever was there in the script in such a way that you don't feel any kind of lag, though you are far from impressed with the film as a whole. It is this that makes one think Baiju 2D has what it takes to be a successful director.
2 stars
2 / 5

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