'Thekku Vadakku' review | Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vinayakan make for a fun combo

Sachy's 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum', Jean Paul Lal's 'Driving License' and 'Oru Thekkan Thallu Case' have one thing in common. All of them explore the male ego in detail. Prem Sankar's 'Thekku Vadakku' is yet another addition to the list, though the treatment is satirical rather than emotional. The film follows the lives of two men – Shanguni (played by Suraj Venjaramoodu) and Madhavan (Vinayakan) who are at odds with each other. Their property dispute has prolonged for 30 years and they are awaiting a final judgment from the court. Their strained relationship and how they try to outsmart each other form the crux of the movie.
The film, based on a story by noted writer S Hareesh, has its moments. The setting is quite unique and it's fun to see how the makers flesh out the lead characters. Vinayakan, who enthralled us in 'Jailer' and was last seen in Sunny Wayne-starrer 'Kasaragold', portrays a different character in 'Thekku Vadakku'. In the movie, he plays a retired KSEB official, but his eccentricity, dressing style and speech with smattering of English phrases make him stand out of the crowd.

Suraj Venjaramoodu has locked horns before with Prithviraj in 'Driving Licence' and Biju Menon in 'Nadanna Sambhavam'. His combination with Vinayakan is fresh and the two successfully explore the egos of two men who cannot stand each other, despite, strangely, their ability to come together to play cards. The makers could have focused on bettering the humour between the two, given that both are great actors with good comic timing. Though the premise is interesting, the story is stretched out at times, since the makers try to run a parallel story in between, featuring Shanguni and Madhavan's sidekicks played by Shameer Khan and Melvin G Babu and their sons played by Merin Jose and Vineeth Viswam.
Filmmaker Prem earlier directed 'Randuper', a noir film featuring two people who meet in the middle of the night. In 'Thekku Vadakku', he manages to create an intrigue with the characters and the setting, though he struggles with the pacing. The music by Sam C S fits the storyline to an extent. The film is a fun watch, though it is bogged down by some disenchanting elements.