Thudarum review: Mohanlal impresses in UAE first day first show with gripping thriller and monstrous villains

Dubai: It looks like the Malayalam cinema titans have finally answered my prayers. When I reviewed L2: Empuraan, I remember yearning to see our matinee idol Mohanlal in a mundu (cotton sarong) , obliterating enemies in glorious slow motion. What that film held back, Tharun Moorthy’s Thudarum serves up — and then some. This isn't a high-octane spectacle; it’s a slow-burn thriller that simmers steadily, letting the tension build with purpose. And the best part? There’s a solid script beneath the surface, anchoring every stare, silence, and punch.

While it may remind you of Mohanlal’s iconic Drishyam — where a father goes to extreme lengths to protect his family — Thudarum (which roughly translates to To Be Continued) inhabits a similarly compelling universe. Mohanlal plays Shanmugham, a benign and jolly cab driver who’s deeply sentimental about his beat-up vintage black Ambassador car. They call him the Benz Bro—a nod to the luxury car that contrasts with his humble Ambassador, once the common man's dream. He's got two lovely kids and a gorgeous, age-appropriate wife played by the ever-elegant Shobana. Together, they’re the picture of domestic bliss, living an idyllic life.

But things take a dark and unexpected turn when his beloved car is impounded by local cops. What starts as a vanilla family drama quickly morphs into a gripping thriller, with the family's lives upended in the most brutal manner possible.

Mohanlal is in fine form here. For those who’ve missed seeing him as a grounded, relatable everyman — someone with heart, flaws, and vulnerabilities — this performance feels like a welcome return to form. The scenes where he breaks down in the bathroom are a searing masterclass in pathos, reminding us why he remains one of the finest actors of his generation.

But Thudarum comes together as a compelling unit not just because of Mohanlal’s restrained brilliance, but also because of its dark, macabre villains.
Actors Prakash Varma and Binu Pappu are wickedness personified, delivering chilling performances as horridly corrupt police officers drunk on unchecked power. Unsensitized to the violence they inflict, these men in uniform are the very portrait of pure, institutionalised evil.

Tharun Moorthy also uses water as a powerful metaphor throughout Thudarum. The rainfall, the leaking ceilings, the stillness of stagnant puddles — all mirror the rising emotional undercurrents of guilt, grief, and moral reckoning. Nowhere is this more heartbreakingly captured than in the scene where Mohanlal breaks down in the bathroom, overwhelmed by the weight of the crimes he has unknowingly enabled. It’s a hauntingly beautiful moment in a film that’s gorgeously shot and steeped in atmosphere.

But a word of caution — Thudarum takes its time. The first act moves at a glacial pace, but stay with it. Once it finds its rhythm, the payoff is well worth the wait. The legendary chemistry between Shobana as this Tamil woman who speaks Malayalam with her native twang and Mohanlal -- once an iconic on-screen pair -- has mellowed considerably. Don't expect the same spark as the one that you remember from their 1990s super hits. But the movie doesn't need any of those trappings per se. The chemistry is between Mohanlal and his monstrous villains played suberbly by Prakash Varma and Binu Pappu.

Prakash Varma, who carries this benevolent uncle vibes, knows how to crank up the evil in the most smarmy yet convincing manner.

But in the end, it's Mohanlal to round things off.

The Kerala superstar in mundu, pathos in his eyes, and villains straight out of nightmares — Thudarum is the slow-burn thriller we didn’t know we needed.