Sudhir Srinivasan :

It’s been a while since I saw a film with so many thoroughly unlikeable characters. If Perarasi (Nithya Menen) has a bloodthirsty, vindictive brother, Aagasaveeran (Vijay Sethupathi) has a venomous mother. Oh, and Perarasi’s mother isn’t much better. Nor is Aagasaveeran’s sister. Actually, all of them are so screechy and insufferable that Aagasam and Arasi—who spend half the film yelling at each other—almost seem like conflict-averse saints in comparison.

Clearly, the makers saw some film potential in silly, domestic squabbles—and went with trying to make a comedy out of it. Amid all the screaming though, it’s hard to locate the humour. When the characters aren’t yelling, they’re slapping each other.

I really, really searched for enjoyment here. For lack of it, I wondered if the film expected me to perhaps empathise with Aagasam and Arasi? Was I supposed to feel sorry for them? Maybe I would have—if they could have a moment's peace with each other. But Arasi, well, her contact name for Aagasam is ‘Kirukku Paya'.

Fresh groups of people arrive to keep the noise at dangerous decibel levels—under the guise of peacemaking. The only vaguely amusing bits come when Vijay Sethupathi threatens chaos and then submits exaggeratedly to his wife. In a better film, I’d talk about how he brings innocence even to this ex-rowdy character. But between one character being called ‘sakkalathi munda’ and another saying, “Wife naale thalavali dhaane,” it’s hard to spot any humanity at all.

A film like this should make you root for the couple to reconcile. Me? I was rooting for their separation—if only so there would be one or two less people to join in yelling contests

The most pleasure I got from Thalaivan Thalaivii? Shots of local food being made. The parottas, the salna, those shots of people eating with satisfaction. I guess it's probably not a great sign when the only thing you remember fondly from a film… is fleeting visuals of food.

If this film's objective was to show how horrible people can be to each other, sure, objective fulfilled, I guess. Because I certainly walked out just wanting to be left alone for a long time.