Aanandha Thandavam Review

The much awaited and anticipated film, the story of which is based on Late Sujatha’s Pirivom Sandhippom has finally arrived. But Aanandha Thandavam produced by Aascar Films does not live up to the expectations it had raised in the minds of Sujatha’s fans.

A few decades back the infection that plagued parents to
Aanandha Thandavam
get their daughters married off to ‘America-settled' bride, reeling under the ‘foreign craze’, without checking on the credentials and later landing in a deep quagmire form the central plot of Aanandha Thandavam directed by Gandhi Krishna .

Debutant Siddharth as Raghupathy, son of Govindaraj (Kitty), a supervisor with a state government office, falls in love with Madhumitha (Tamanna), daughter of his dad’s boss Gopinath. She also appears to be in love with Raghu. Although Gopinath approves of this love and promises his daughter’s hand in matrimony to Raghu, he does a complete volte-face when Radhakrishnan (Rishi) from America materializes from nowhere. Raghu gets royally betrayed when Madhu and Radhakrishnan get married and leave for America and the film moves to the US of A. What happens to Raghu, Madhu and Radhakrishnan there forms the rest of Aanandha Thandavam.

Director Gandhi Krishna’s intention to adapt a novel into a film is good. But he seems to have gone wrong in selecting a contemporary theme. His tenacity in sticking to the original word by word may have worked perhaps in the eighties. The character portrayal of Madhumitha lacks conviction and strength. She appears to be an enigma and is a bundle of contradictions. Sometimes she is so naïve while in some other occasion she is highly sophisticated which confuses the audience.

Performance wise, Kitty, Siddharth’s father steals the show with his practical and pragmatic approach to life. Rukmini of Bommalaatam fame is the other girl in America who falls in love with Siddharth. She proves that if given the right opportunity, she will be an actress to look out for. Tamanna, the latest hot property of Kollywood with a release a week has understood her role and tried to do justice. Siddharth has a long way to go.

The songs Pattu Poochi, Kangalil Aadum and Kana Kaangiren numbers are a treat to the eyes. Lensman Jeeva Shankar’s attempt to capture the lush greeneries in an unadulterated fashion needs special mention. Thotta Tharani’s art work comes to the fore in Kangalil Aadum song. Dialogues by Sujatha and Gandhi Krishna stand out especially in scenes that talk about Indian American culture.

Much was expected from Gandhi Krishna, but he seems to have let down the audience.

Verdict: This Thandavam is missing the Aanandham!