Thakka Thakka (2015)

Thakka Thakka begins with Thulasi (Leema Babu), a teenaged girl, being sold to a pimp by her own father. This initial segment, detailing the harrowing experiences of the girl, is the strongest portion in the film. Even if the arc (a young woman who raises her child in a brothel and gives up her life trying to save him) is something that has been seen a few times, the filmmaking, enhanced by the moody lighting by cinematographer Sujith Sarang, is pretty solid.

The film cuts to the present where we see Thulasi's son Sathya (Vikranth), who has grown up to become a worker in a small hotel. His friend Karthi (Aravinnd), who is also an orphan, is in love with Indu (Abhinaya), a medic. However, Indu's mother (Uma Padmanabhan) plans to marry her off to her brother Kumar, an underling to Paraman (Rahul Venkat), a gangster. When Kumar learns that Indu had secretly married Karthi, he abducts her and plans to sell her in the flesh trade. Meanwhile, Sathya rescues a girl and in the process kills Bala (Arul Dass), the pimp who murdered his mother. Incidentally, Bala is also Paraman's brother and Paraman decides to get Sathya through Karthi.

Thakka Thakka is the kind of film that shows spirit even though it doesn't come together as a whole. There are moments that stand out, but the film lacks the tautness in writing that could have made it into a gripping action film. The outline of this tale is familiar, but director Sanjeev introduces a few layers into the narrative that make it somewhat interesting. However, what it lacks is a strong lead performance to make us care. Vikranth is earnest, but he is too passive, that we hardly connect with the character. In fact, most often, it is Karthi who comes across as the protagonist. The film is also unable to escape the cliche of one man beating up an entire gang of hardened criminals to pulp. Nevertheless, the understated romantic track(s) and the doggedness with which the director narrates this tales ensure that the predominant feeling as we exit the theatre is not that of disappointment.