Finally the Onam season is over & the fate of the movies is up for all to see, with some of them struggling hard to keep themselves in the reckoning to claim the status of a hit. Among the biggies which hit the screens this Onam, the first one was Mammooka's "Thappana". After having been on the receiving end of a disastrous run which extends to more than an year now, Mammooka will surely be hoping for a much needed breath of relief. But will this be the one???
Samson (Mammootty), a petty thief has just been released from jail & as he ambles along the footpath his eyes falls upon Mallika (Charmi), who incidentally also gets released from jail at around the same time. Though his efforts to approach her fails, fate had other plans as Mallika meets with an accident & is helped by none other than Samson. At this juncture, Samson who was smitten by Mallika is made aware of the fact that she was married & since her husband couldnt be reached through mob offers to accompany her to her village. But what was lying in store for her was more than what she had bargained for.
Johny Antony comes up with his second offing of the year after "Masters", which though I felt was decent failed to make much of a dent at the box office. In "Thappana" as well, the end result isn't going to be much different as the script which inspite having a decent content was let down by a sloppy screenplay along with poor characterization. Based on a novel by noted Bengali writer, Ashapoorna Devi; the essence wasn't conceived well by Sindhuraj. Vidyasagar's music was average with "Oorum perum parayathe" rendered by Vijay Yesudas being the pick of the lot. Actually apart from this song, the trailer & Mammootty's humour there's hardly anything worth watching.
Mammootty has done justice to his role by imparting a likeable nature to the character along with rib tickling one liners. However, what's the point??? since we have seen numerous films like these & just cant figure out as to why he opted for something similar yet again. Charmi was fine while Murali Gopi seems to be getting better by the day but he was sorely let down by the script which never gave him the scope to breathe fire into the character. In short, numerous characters but none of them had much impact.
Verdict: The film is unlikely to garner much interest as there is nothing substantial to arrest the attention of the audience. Just like the other numerous films, this is also likely to tank thereby extending Mammooka's search for an elusive hit. In short. it will be coming on TV within a month or so, so then why bother!!!
Rating: 2/5
Regards...Ben