'Thankam' review: A gripping thriller on gold smuggling

'Thankam' is the last film of Kochu Preman who passed away in December 2022

Thankam

Malayalam (Amazon Prime Video)

Director: Saheed Arafath

Cast: Biju Menon, Aparna Balamurali, Vineeth Srinivasan and Girish Kulkarni

Rating: 4/5

Thankam, directed by Saheed Arafath, is another example of the Malayalam film industry’s strong hold over realistic cinema. Thankam means gold in Malayalam, and the film depicts the world of gold smuggling. You see men with high calibre forced to commit the crime.

The movie starts with the friendship between Kannan and Muthu who are involved in a gold smuggling business in Thrissur. The journey of Kannan to Mumbai in connection with smuggling ends up with his death, where he is found hanging in a hotel room. The Mumbai police, in their investigation, travel to Thrissur and Coimbatore to crack the case.

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Thankam begins as a friendship story and then transforms into a gripping crime drama. The cinematography keeps the suspenseful mood of the film intact, and the viewer feels something is going to happen at any moment. The background score further raises our curiosity. Witty dialogues and well-written funny scenes balance the film’s serious tone.

Apart from the film’s technical mastery and a strong screenplay by Shyam Pushkaran, the film also has a well-experienced cast. Biju Menon, Vineeth Srinivasan, Aparna Balamurali and Kochu Preman do justice to their roles, but it is Girish Kulkarni as a cop who stands out .

Thankam is also the last film of Kochu Preman who passed away in December 2022.

Though it’s a Malayalam film, the characters speak Tamil, Hindi, Marathi and English. The semantic barriers and the difficulties to probe a crime in different states, and the lack of communication between individuals, strengthens the film’s plot.

The story also tells how debt taken to lead a decent living can cause harm in the long run and lead to a tragedy.