When the current action hero of Mollywood, Prithviraj comes up with his first full time comedy movie, that too with Dipu Karunakaran- the director of 'Crazy Gopalan', the fundas are evident at the very outset. This is 'never ever going to be for those looking for path-breaking cinema, nor for the critics. As it turns out to be, it is one entertainer that attempts for laughter unlimited, but with logic that may take a complete backseat. Thejabhai and Family' is one such movie that try to follow that Priyadharshan route of entertaining the masses in the eighties, loaded with similar brand of wit and humour mostly around confusion dramas, that are still the order of the day.
The movie has Prithvi as super underworld don of Malaysia named Thejabhai, who falls for an ordinary Malayalee girl, named Vedhika, engaged in social activities in Kuala Lumpur. To impress her, Theja takes the name of Roshan Varma and starts behaving as if he is a do-gooder for all. But his plans go awry as the girl's father Damodharji expresses his interest to marry off his girl to a youngster from a reputed big joint family. Theja, who is an orphan, now with the help of a fraud Swami Vashyvajassu(Suraj Venjaaramoodu), moves on to Kerala to find out his family who deserted him at the age of three. Swamy now plays wiser as he posts a full page advertisement in a leading daily asking for candidates to fill in the posts of father, mother, uncle, aunts and their relatives for a young lad. And in comes the entire gang of comedians of Malayalam cinema to fill in the posts, at a pay of 1500 rupees per day. The movies follow the confusions and chaos that prevails in the 'built-up' family as Vedika and Damodharji (Thalaivaasal Vijay) arrives to check the background of Roshan Varma and to fix the marriage.
Teja Bhai on the look out for festival viewers, demands you to lock your brains in the cupboard and throw your thinking caps out of the window. The scripts, by the director himself, is loaded with nonsensical and juvenile humour that makes you laugh at regular intervals. The film, on the outset looks like an amalgamation of several well executed sequences, of many films starting from 'Kalyanji Anandji'. But discrepancies aplenty do sweep in, especially in the post-interval portions, as this comic caper has too many characters with narratives that goes on and off in the second hour. Some of the attempts on slapstick, where everyone is chasing everyone, fall flat. Also, the climax resembling 'Pokkiriraja' loses its sheen and looks hurried. But the glitches and blemishes may easily be overlooked if eyed through the perspectives of a masala comic entertainer.
In the positives, Suraj venjaaramoodu is the man who holds the entire movie together, evoking mirth all along. The sequences including that of Salimkumar's take on 'Mahabharatha' as their family story, the confrontation scene between Akhila and Prithvi supported with the scenes of TV and the visuals of the remixed 'Oru Madhurakinavin' are all well applauded by the viewers. Also is the slick production values displayed in the entire movie..
The performances of the entire cast are loud, but one doesn't mind that since the film is lighthearted in any case. Prithvi as Theja comes out with a decent performance and fine tunes his timing of presenting humour. And so is Akhila who is extremely attractive and photogenic, though she doesn't get much scope to display histrionics. The songs and BG scores by Deepk Dev are embellished with foot tapping elements, of which 'Pranayanila' is the pick. All the three songs are well picturised by Dipu, with the help of some interesting framing by cinematographer Shaam Dut and visual effects by editor Manoj.
At the box-office, the patronage by its target audience, fantastic promotions embarked by its makers and the opening response should help 'Thejabhai and family' for a relatively decent run in the coming days. All in all it's a mindless entertainer 'never ever' meant for those thinking types.
