Thiri (Eng: Candle Wick) is a 2017 Indian Tamil action drama film written and directed by S. Ashok Amritraj, starring Ashwin and Swathi Reddy in the leading roles. Featuring Jayaprakash, A. L. Azhagappan and Karunakaran in supporting roles, Thiri had a theatrical release on 14 July 2017.
The story revolves around Jeeva (Ashwin), a final-year mechanical engineering student. He is the happy-go-lucky son in a typical ‘happy’ movie family — a father (Jayaprakash, putting on his Pasanga persona) who is strict on the outside but loves his son, a doting mother (Anupama Kumar), and a loving sister; there is even the playful girl-next-door, Swathi (Swathi) who serves as a romantic interest.
Swathi’s father is being pressurised by Angannan (AL Azhagappan), a big, bad politician looking to win an upcoming election, into selling his land for a lesser price. Meanwhile, Jeeva is involved in a skirmish with Kishore (Arjai), who happens to be Angannan’s son and also the correspondent of Jeeva’s college. Kishore has his revenge by messing with Jeeva’s conduct certificate. And when he realises that the father and son are not going to let him in peace, Jeeva decides to fight back.
The reason Thiri is underwhelming is not because of the predictable script but because it fails to inject fun into it. There are attempts at injecting comedy, alright, but they hardly bring a smile. And the film isn’t successful in nailing its tone. Jeeva’s payback moves are not that exciting and some of his moves are downright questionable. Like, why does he reveal that he is behind these plans to the politician there by putting his family and friends at risk? And the pacing, too, suffers, not just because of the entirely unnecessary songs, but because how drawn out the scenes are.
Where the film works is in the scenes that showcase the bond between Jeeva and his father. The understated style of Jayaprakash and Ashwin makes these scenes linger long. Jayaprakash, in fact, is given reams of dialogues, which, from many other actors would have tested our patience, but there is a quiet dignity about him that we connect to his character. But even he can do only so much, as we find out in the dampener of a climax.
Directed by S. Ashok Amritharaj
Produced by S. Anton Ranjith & M. Vetrik Kumaran
Starring Ashwin, Swathi Reddy, Jayaprakash
Music by Ajesh
Cinematography K. G. Venkatesh
Edited by S. P. Raja Sethupathi
Production Oxygen Cinemas & Sea Shore Gold Productions
Release date 14 July 2017
Country India
Language Tamil
