Adapting a literary work to screen is often a tightrope walk between retaining and leaving out one part or the other. In adapting Francis Noronha’s original story Thottappan, which was much talked about in Malayalam literary circles, screenwriter P.S. Rafeeque depends on just the base story, while deviating from it considerably and even fleshing out seemingly insignificant parts effectively.
Jonappan (Dileesh Pothen) chooses his fellow thief Ithakk (Vinayakan) to be his daughter’s Thottappan, the godfather. The day before her baptism, Jonappan goes missing. Ithakk, who till then had dreams of his own, shrinks his world and dedicates almost his entire life to ensure a better future for Sarah (Priyamvada).
Shift in focus
While the heart of the original story is the way Thottappan teaches her the tricks of his trade and her dilemma in stealing from places of worship, the film almost shifts the entire focus to the rare emotional bond that the two of them share.
The expanded character of Ismu (Roshan Mathew) brings scope for added drama on screen.
Shanavas K. Bavakutty, who made his debut with Kismath, which touched upon religious and caste issues tearing apart the lives of two lovers, widens his canvas in his second outing, chipping away the rough edges visible in his debut. The islets of Kochi becomes the setting for Thottappan.
Here too, love in its various forms plays out in the background and foreground, from Thottappan’s lost love to the undiminished love of an old bed-ridden man and his childhood sweetheart who reconnects late in life and the insecure love of blind shopkeeper Adruman (Raghunath Paleri) towards his young wife.
Starkly different
Vinayakan’s treatment of his character could easily have been a repetition of his own Ganga from Kammatipadam, since both are characters living risky lives in the margins. But, for Thottappan, he brings to the table a fresh set of mannerisms, thus making it starkly different from his previous roles. Priyamvada, who hogs as much screen space as him, too makes a mark.
Memorable moments
The disparate elements and the subplots bring alive quite a few memorable moments, yet in the end, when it all comes together, it does not shake you enough, for the kind of story that it is telling. It could be a case of the flab that got into the script, while fleshing out the story, like the pointless, prolonged sequence of Thottappan’s attack on a man who had raped a domestic help. This failing is noticeable since Noronha’s writing is known for cutting out the flab.
Thottappan builds up slowly, drawing you in with the promise of a knockout punch hanging in the air all the while, but which never comes. Maybe, that’s how they intended it.
S.R. Praveen