Obeli N Krishna wrote the screenplay and directed the movie Pathu Thala, which was funded by KE Gnanavel Raja and Jayantilal Gada under the production companies Studio Green and Pen Studios, respectively. The film stars Silambarasan TR, Priya Bhavani Shankar, and Gautham Karthik in the key roles, and Gautham Vasudev Menon, Anu Sithara, Kalaiyarasan, Teejay Arunasalam, Santhosh Prathap, and Redin Kingsley are among the talented actors who play supporting roles. Farook J. Basha is in charge of the cinematography, and AR Rahman is in charge of the music.
Let me begin this review with a scene from Pathu Thala so you may get a sense of the story's unfettered absurdity. At one point in the film, Simbu, who is portraying the don AGR, says to his estranged sister, "You've been mad at me all this time for killing off your husband. But did you ever enquire as to why I killed your Annan [older brother]? The sister seemed traumatised.
No, she hadn't considered asking. Add a dramatic rainstorm and some even more dramatic soundtrack. He then goes on to give her a meagre justification that actually doesn't tell her much. She doesn't argue anymore. They quickly come to a joyful reconciliation.
This chat takes place on AGR's birthday, a day he has vowed not to mark without greeting his cherished sister. The story may now transition to a happy song because the "small misunderstanding" regarding a family murder has been resolved.
Even by those standards, Pathu Thala pushes its luck because we all know that Kollywood likes the sister-brother sentiment just a little bit less than it loves the Amma sentiment. Why did Samthura (Anu Sithara), the sister, never think to question her brother why he killed her husband? Perhaps because Tamil film makers have a history of assuming that women don't think. Yet we'll never be able to be certain.
The absence of a compelling antagonist then results in a further failure. This is possibly the reason why we are still more intrigued by the dynamics between AGR and his sister and his connection with Guna than by the recurring dangers that could lead to his demise. In addition to being uninteresting and forgettable, a flashback involving Guna and a local Tahasildar, played by Priya Bhavani Shankar, doesn't really advance the plot.
Pathu Thala has a number of faces that are both disappointing and unexpected, with STR seeming more at ease playing the older brother than in his mass hero persona.
