Thudarum is additional proof that Mohanlal is among the greatest actors working immediately, nonetheless taking possibilities

It’s barely 6 months into 2025, and Mohanlal has already delivered two blockbusters in L2: Empuraan and Thudarum. The 65-year-old actor even made his directorial debut with Barroz- 3D, which launched final yr in Christmas, however sadly, that didn’t work. There’s an unpredictability in the best way the actor operates, taking possibilities, which brings different outcomes. If one factor is for certain, it’s what Mohanlal brings to the desk as an actor. His newest launch, Thudarum, is additional proof that Mohanlal can elevate even a modest revenge drama to astonishing heights simply by his mere presence. (Additionally learn: ₹100 cr mark in 6 days”>Thudarum worldwide field workplace assortment: Mohanlal movie exhibits no signal of slowing down, crosses ₹100 cr mark in 6 days)
Drishyam Vs Thudarum
That Thudarum has been in comparison with one other Mohanlal-starrer Drishyam will not be actually a shock. Each movies have a quite comparable narrative terrain, the place an preliminary battle offers rise to a nail-bitingly intense payoff. Each movies additionally see Mohanlal harness a personality who’s seemingly strange in look, however is later proved to have extraordinary tenacity and intelligence.
In Thudarum, Tharoon Murthy presents Mohanlal with Shanmugham aka Benz, an affectionate man who works as a taxi driver. He lives a modest and peaceable life along with his spouse and two youngsters, obsessing over his black Ambassador Mark 1. The primary half of the movie patiently charts his each day routine and units up the preliminary disaster, which arrives within the type of his automotive getting seized by the police.
Then, the needle drops. It’s a sudden, vehement shift of tone that rests solely on Mohanlal’s shoulders. It’s a fact that arrives solely to Benz, and thru him to the viewer immediately. We come to phrases with the horror together with him. Mohanlal is completely charming in these scenes because the revelation sinks in little by little, and Benz is consumed by an uncontrollable sense of despair and rage. What can he do now? How can he even inform the reality to his household? What is going to occur subsequent? Mohanlal, displaying no self-importance in anyway, offers a full-body efficiency in these moments. That is an actor who has mastered the artwork of enjoying the everyman determine, somebody who needs to thoughts his personal enterprise till he’s dragged into some unsavoury sport. He’ll do something for his household; it’s the despair that has was rage.
Mohanlal offers one among his greatest performances
Drishyam had an identical intuition, however Thudarum takes it one step additional. Right here, Benz has a option to give up with the reality, however he chooses not to take action as he takes justice into his personal fingers and proceeds along with his plan as an alternative. From right here on, Thudarum turns into shaky and persuasive, blindsiding the viewer each step of the best way. It’s now not a household drama, it turns into a thriller. However what a showcase for Mohanlal it proves to be! The actor is so convincing as Benz in his rugged carelessness that the viewer is all the time by his facet, even in his worst instincts. The motion scenes are rigorously choreographed (there are numerous), and Mohanlal brings numerous earthiness to them- this can be a middle-aged man in any case, who’s certain to really feel exhausted and, in flip, obtain just a few punches too. We nonetheless need to see him rise up and combat.
Thudarum is typically violent and a tad too indulgent within the later sequences. Its predictability stems from the truth that Benz will not be a hero, he’s nonetheless not somebody with numerous energy. So he should face the implications. By the point that second arrives, Mohanlal’s lived-in efficiency has turned him into somebody bigger than life. Benz turns into bigger than even the movie’s limitations.
Tharoon Murthy’s movie is likely to be measured in its influence, however Mohanlal is engaged on a unique register altogether- a masterful actor who’s instinctively capable of really seize the emotional beats of a movie. He elevates Thudarum simply by his mere presence by the tip. There isn’t any one else who can channel the frequent man’s woes (and contained rage) higher than him on display screen immediately. He makes Benz plausible and frighteningly actual. He is likely to be the kindest, and but you may not need to mess with him in any case. It scares you a bit of.