Thurthu Nirgamana review: Sudharani and Achyuth Kumar are a blast in this time-loop family drama

3/5

Story: 32-year-old-Vikram (Suneel Rao) ‘wakes up’ in a mortuary, where he meets nurse ‘Madam’ (Sudharani) and fellow dead person Jeevan (Achyuth Kumar). Madam is the gatekeeper to an emergency exit, of sorts, which allows recently deceased souls to return and take care of any unfinished business. Vikram gets three days to sort out his matters, and no matter what he does or does not, he will die in the end and be stuck in a time loop of those three days, until and unless he does what he really needs to do in that time. But can Vikram, who has been jobless and aimless, figure that out?

Review: Thurthu Nirgamana, according to the makers, is a sci-fi film. Yes, there is a ‘portal’ through which Vikram is sent back to the land of the living to relive the last three days of his life – in a loop – and that about sums up the sci-fi bit of it. What the film really is, is a family drama with some valuable lessons, including about finding the little joys in life, and, most importantly, closure.

From the time it became apparent that Thurthu Nirgamana had a time-loop concept, I guess I was expecting a Groundhog Day, Russian Doll or even Maanaadu kind of experience – a bit more thrilling, to be precise. Here, the time-loop bit is only a means to an end – give Vikram enough time to do what he ought to before death comes calling one final time. It is also why parts of the film are a bit of a drag and tiresome.

The film has its moments, most notably when Sudharani and Achyuth Kumar are onscreen. The veteran actress has been very vocal about how excited she is about her role in the Hemanth Kumar directorial. And even though the entire story focuses on Suneel Rao as Vikram, Sudharani stands steadfast, like a load-bearing beam, and holds the narrative together. As Jeevan, Achyuth Kumar is the absolute scene stealer. He gets some of the funniest lines in the film and goes to town with them.

The ladies, Hitha Chandrashekar and Samyuktha Hegde have relatively smaller roles in the larger scheme of things, but are nevertheless pivotal to the narrative. Aruna Balraj has Vikram’s mother, and Amrutha Ramamoorthi as his sister, also do justice to their roles.

As Vikram, Suneel Rao is earnest. The character has nothing larger-than-life about it – he is as regular as regular comes. And yet, if you end up feeling for Vikram and hoping for him to get his ‘life’ together, it is solely because of Suneel’s rendition of the character. Thurthu Nirgamana is his comeback vehicle, and one sincerely hopes that we’ll get to see more of the actor in the foreseeable future.

One of Hemanth’s biggest victories with Thurthu Nirgamana is the casting – it’s spot on. Every actor brings in just the right amount of gravitas and that is what makes it a decent watch, even when the pace slows down considerably. The only character that I wasn’t entirely convinced about was Raj B Shetty as debt-ridden suicidal cab driver Shivu. What if he wasn’t the catalyst for Vikram’s journey of introspection? Could the narrative hold up if, say, Vikram dies of natural causes?

Verdict: If you are looking for a feel-good family drama, Thurthu Nirgamana is what you should be watching.