Thithi

Thithi (2015) : Brief Review -

A light-hearted, humourous and realistic Kannada drama set in serious period of post-funeral. Ee Mae Yau (2018) directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery was a very sensitive and heartbreaking film on the same topic but Thithi came 3 years before. And it was made in a complete opposite genre, a humourous comedy+drama.. Though, it has its own seriousness involved in storytelling which you have to understand. It's not a big miss if you don't understand it because you are gonna love the humour anyway. But Thithi definitely lacks powerful and life changing statements even after having a large potential for it in there. In a South Indian village, a centenarian's funeral brings together his free-spirited son, inheritance-hungry grandson and girl-crazy great-grandson. The film is a light-hearted journey of three generations during that specific period of 11 days between the death and the Thithi ceremony. All three generations are shown differently, that is one of the USP of the film but not all three end up making sense. Maybe, the problem was in the theories of the writer rather than actors and theirs execution. Thithi is solidly covered by realistic surroundings so one expects the same realism and brutality in the climax too, which is missing. The actors are fabulous by the way. Not just one or two actors but the entire big cast looked utterly real and natural. The screenplay could have been more pacy. It is dragged by unnecessary pauses and slow movements. Like, i don't understand how someone just walking on the road or doing any daily activities can worth almost 50-60 seconds of the runtime for more the 10 occasions? If you are not showing anything artistic and meaningful then stop wasting time in such scenes na. Don't always cover up your failures under the carpet of realistic cinema. Overall, Thithi is very good but definitely not a Classic. Those last 10 minutes made a big difference in the final impact.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Kannada film industry is going through a paradigm shift gradually. The filmmakers are taking the affliction on their shoulders to elevate the quality of regional Indian Cinema like Malayalam, Tamil,Telugu, Marathi or Bengali.

Having created movies Like Lucia, RangiTaranga, Ulidavaru Kandanthe etc, the storytelling and narratives are shifting towards excellence.

Ram Reddy has done a marvelous job with a satire "Thithi". The idea and setup work wonderfully.

Working with non-actors and keeping the realism intact is a tough nut to crack. All the ingredients of the movie, a rural setting, authenticity, a dysfunctional family, daily teething troubles, desires, covets and minimalism, work fantastically. The humor is weaved perfectly.

A perfect watch for people who want to watch something different.

A quirky tale of the differing outlooks and actions of 4 generations of men from one rural family. Great to see a film where the protagonists are not all prettied up faces ; a film where there is a story and the story is revealed subtly and not thrust in your face. Superb acting. Worth watching

Very cute, a light mood, pleasant to accompany another culture, and so different, the nomadic shepherds, so rustic, a people so simple and happy, I really liked this perspective, the non-professional actors and extras from the region, all very captivating, Fall in love with the "Beard Man" Gaddappa, invitation to the funeral, dead watching and people just think about food, they are not wrong, right, I see them eating, all together, on the same plate and with their hands, and I feel like sharing , despite finding it unhygienic ... I didn't understand the girl's speech, "Find me and marry me" she lost her virginity to him, to create this "obligation", bond, an excellent Indian film...

It's very satirical. I personally do not see any specific 'comment' in the society. The social structure given is perfectly fine. It is jus a nice, well written, play-like brilliant piece of movie.