Reopening of a forgotten case is one of the most exciting plots in the genre of investigative crime thrillers or courtroom dramas. It brings in the excitement and the viewers emotionally feel connected to the protagonist, re-investigating to prove the innocence of a helpless victim. Thimmarusu: Assignment Vali is a film exploiting the same in which the heroic lawyer acts as a detective, who decides to fight for a young innocent boy convicted for murder.
A remake of Kannada hit Birbal Trilogy Case 1: Finding Vajramuni (2019), the subject takes its major inspiration from a Korean thriller New Trial (2017) that was reportedly based on a tragic real-life verdict. Directed by Sharan Koppisetty, the writers make significant changes in the second half and the climax, trying all the tricks of the genre to win over the viewers. Following the age-old ‘Rashomon’ format, the director first presents distinctive viewpoints on the murder but then forgets about them and moves on to other gimmicks in the script to make a fast-paced, entertaining thriller.
Thimmaarusu begins like an ordinary film with the boy being charged for murder and the case gets reopened after eight years with no visible time-gap in either the characterisations or their reactions towards the sudden unexpected investigations. Everyone related to the case responds in a manner as if it had happened just a few weeks back, remembering even the minute details. Continuing with a spoon-feeding kind of narrative, the script has two typical characters of a charming girlfriend and a comic associate, along with a few masala action sequences added on purpose. Thankfully, the director doesn’t give much time to the romantic angle or comedy, which eventually helps the film to keep the viewers fairly engaged.
A simple, convenient thriller missing the expected edge-of-the-seat moments, Thimmaarusu has some decent twists in the second half, but it doesn’t turn out to be an intriguing thriller in its entirety. The cool, likeable presence and performance of Satyadev as the lawyer immensely helps the film but a hurried climax, unnecessary disclosing new relationships within the characters, leads to an unconvincing culmination.
Establishing a forced connection with mythology through names like Rama and Vaali, Thimmarusu tries to play it smart, but a game can only be won with some winning cards in hand. In the present version, the film misses those cards, resulting in an earnest but average attempt of making an exciting murder mystery.
Rating : 2.5 / 5
Streaming on Netflix
Bobby Sing
(bobbytalkscinema.com)
NOTE : The article in an edited form was first published in THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Newspaper (Mumbai Edition) on 7th September 2021.
Tags :
Thimmarusu (Telugu) Review by Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, New Telugu Films Reviews by Bobby Sing, New Indian Regional Films Reviews, Indian murder mysteries inspired from Korean Cinema
