‘Retta Thala’ movie review: Even two Arun Vijays can’t save this lifeless thriller

Early on in Retta Thala, the protagonist Kaali (Arun Vijay) recounts how he grew up as an orphan in extreme poverty on the streets of Pondicherry and how it was a fellow destitute named Anthre who saved his life, becoming his family and giving him some semblance of purpose in life. Years later, Kaali travels to Pondicherry and reconnects with Anthre (Siddhi Idnani), now a waitress at a cafe, and proposes to marry her. But Anthre declines: “Neither are you rich, nor am I. And if we get married and if we can’t afford even a couple of meals, my love for you would begin to fade. I don’t wish for that to happen,” she says.

A heartbroken Kaali roams around the town, which is when he inadvertently bumps into Malpe Upendra (Arun in a dual role), who looks just like him, but a more stylish and richer version. When Anthre comes to know of this, she plots a scheme that she urges Kaali to consider — what if Kaali kills his lookalike and assumes his identity? This is what sets out the rest of this Kris Thirukumaran-directed thriller.

Siddhi Idnani and Arun Vijay in a still from ‘Retta Thala’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Now, on paper, this setup tells you a lot about why an action aficionado like Arun Vijay saw value in pursuing it; it’s an archetypal double-action thriller storyline that could still fire with a suitable screenplay and treatment. Kaali and Upendra are two men from extremely different walks of life, and the subsequent reveals about their backstories make you dream of a solid, adrenaline-rushing Billa redux. Unfortunately, Retta Thala is anything but that.

The aforementioned early stretch exposes the biggest flaw in its structure and plummets Retta Thala down its own barrel. The story takes such extreme tangents that it leaves gaping plot holes in between. Even if we were to ignore how neither Kaali nor Anthre look like people who can’t afford a decent livelihood, the setup loses all its meaning the moment the screenplay lays bare all its cards in the end. Why must Kaali even give Anthre’s plan any thought? Why are men as sophisticated, talented and well-connected as Kaali and Upendra act so naively on impulse that they don’t see the immediate, obvious repercussions to their actions? We never know.

In fact, if the Billa formula taught anything, such a double-action plotting needed a less serious treatment, possibly for the more timid of the two. However, Retta Thala takes the Kaali-Anthre relationship way too seriously, but the emotional heft needed just isn’t there. One can imagine Anthre’s experiences on the streets to have made her prioritise a life of comfort above impractical notions like love, but the film refuses to dig into it. The writing offers no glimpse into her pathos, something that tells her even murder is justified if it can make her rich. This risks her becoming a laughing stock, and the film, too, uses her as just a cannon to justify Kaali’s actions. But again, when we truly come to know who Kaali is, even this remnant of an underlying emotional crucible crumbles.

The writing gets so dull and campy at times; a character gets brutally stabbed, and Kaali rushes to a hospital, not to admit them as you would think, but to get a bag of medicines. When he returns, they shake it off as if they were pricked with a needle and not a dagger. Similarly, we are never told how Upendra or Kaali came to Pondicherry without being tracked by their enemies, or why one would turn against the other without checking their background, or just how their enemies always manage to find them at the exact location they are in. Everything about Retta Thala is so conveniently plotted.

Adding to the woes is a one-note revenge arc featuring unidimensional villains, mindless action scenes with an infinite ammo glitch, an unnecessarily ambiguous climax, and Upendra and Kaali’s insane plot armour (mob bosses need to play more video games to know it’s best to always go for the head. Thor would agree).

Even a decent stretch like Upendra’s backstory leaves you with a bad aftertaste from the presence of awkwardly AI-generated shots. As far as the action goes, the film’s sole highlight is a well-choreographed fistfight on the banks of a crocodile-infested river.

To sum it all up, Retta Thala is all about Arun Vijay and music composer Sam CS struggling to save an insipid thriller from becoming anything worse.

Retta Thala is currently running in theatres