Thaa (film)


Thaa is a 2010 Tamil drama romance film directed by R. K. Surya Prabhakar. The film features Harish Uthaman and Nisha in lead roles, with Benito Franklin, Madhankumar, Shanmugam, Vetrivel, Govindan, Chellamuthu, K. K. P. Gopalakrishnan and Vasanthi playing supporting roles. The film, produced by Rajesh Uthaman, had musical score by Sri Vijay and was released on 3 December 2010.

Plot

The film begins with the groom Surya getting ready to marry Jothi and he narrates a flashback.
In a flashback, the young man Surya was a blue-collar worker in a metal workshop. His parents wanted him to get married but Surya was quite shy by nature, had low self-esteem and his only social life was when he met his five friends who were unlike him. Anbu who owned a photo studio was a married man and a womanizer, Velliangiri was a carefree young man working in a cotton factory, Varathan was a loan lender who liked watching adult films and spending time with prostitutes, Govindan was a middle-aged man who was an ardent fan of Kamal Haasan and desperately wanted to get married and Shanmugam was a wastrel who tried to woo a village girl. Anbu advised Surya to follow his methods of wooing but it failed miserably. Surya then watched adult films in a cinema theatre and went to a brothel as Varathan did, but when a prostitute touched his hand and Surya ran away from the place. Surya's parent then found him a girl: Jothi, a beautiful young woman who studied computer science.
Jothi did not want to marry him: she found him not-good-looking and not educated enough, above all else, she was afraid of him. So Surya tried to change his look and his behaviour. The two eventually got engaged with the blessings of their family. Later, Surya who became an overprotective fiancé suspected her college mate Kishore of wooing Jothi and he beat him up. Surya then tried to keep his friend Anbu from his fiancé and one day, Surya revealed Anbu's seduction activities to his family and the two got into a fight. Surya even suspected her uncle from Dubai of wooing Jothi. In the meantime, Jothi started to like Surya for being caring and protective. The day before the wedding, Surya who was tensed beat up Jothi's uncle thus the wedding was cancelled and her father wanted Jothi to marry her uncle. Surya and his family returned home. A saddened Surya drank poison, and shortly after, he came to know that his wedding was not cancelled and he fainted. Surya was rushed to the hospital and died in the hospital bed.
Back to the present, Surya's body is buried in a cemetery and it was Surya's spirit who narrated the flashback while Jothi mourns the loss of her fiancé at his grave.

Cast

Director R. K. Surya Prabhakar, a former associate of Samuthirakani, made his directorial debut with the drama film Tha under the banner of Shreya Films. Harish Uthaman, a Malayali who was working with an airline crew, was selected to play the lead role. For about five months, Harish Uthaman grew a beard and also did work to darken his skin, as the role demanded that. A Mumbai girl named Nisha was chosen to be the heroine. The film was shot in the drylands of Coimbatore and lush greens of Kerala. The debutante music director Sri Vijay was from Sri Lanka. Kasi Viswanathan took care of the editing and the cinematography was by V. S. Devaraj.

Soundtrack

The film score and the soundtrack were composed by film composer Sri Vijay. The soundtrack, released in 2010, features 6 tracks. The audio was launched at Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai. Actor Karthi released the audio and it was received by Samuthirakani. A reviewer said, "The debutante music director has shown promise".

Release

The film was released on 3 December 2010 alongside Chikku Bukku and Ratha Sarithiram.

Critical reception

Behindwoods.com rated the film 2 out of 5 and said, "The hero Sri Hari and heroine Nisha carry off the demands of their character well there is more of a mature relationship of understanding being formed than any romance happening on screen. That treatment puts Thaa on a different track from other love based subjects and director Shurya Prabakar deserves credit for adopting this treatment". Indiaglitz.com wrote, "With linear narrative in flashback, the film has some patience-testing scenes and abruptly-ending sequences. But you can't avoid the feeling of having read a good short story while coming out of the theatre".

Box office

The film took a below average opening at the Chennai box office.