Thudarum director Tharun Moorthy reveals film took 12 years to be made after Mohanlal signed
Tharun Moorthy talks to HT about directing Mohanlal in Thudarum, the similarities to Drishyam, and more.
Having made more than ₹130 crore worldwide in nine days, there is just no stopping this Mohanlal-starrer. Thudarum, directed by Tharun Moorthy, is being loved by audiences globally, and the confident director says he expected it to be a hit, but how big was the question. Mohanal, as a middle-class family man, Benz, in Thudarum, was a highly relatable character for the audience, and this is probably thanks to Moorthy’s own middle-class life that has influenced his work. In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, the director opens up about the film, Mohanlal and what’s next.
How did the whole idea of Thudarum fall into place?
Actually, writer KR Sunil and producer M Renjith had discussed this project with Mohanlal 12 years back. Sunil and Renjith narrated the story to Lal sir, but they didn’t have a director on board at the time. Lal sir was very excited and wanted to film asap, but when they approached numerous directors, it didn’t work out unfortunately, or fortunately for me. They didn’t find the right formula to make that story work, so they waited and even approached some new age directors and spent a year on the script, but it didn’t work out.
After my second movie, Saudi Vellaka (2022), Renjith sir called me and said he loved the way I approached the characters and the emotions. He praised my work, and I was grateful. Just as we finished the call, he asked me if I wanted to do a film for his production house, Rejaputhra, and I said yes. Then he told me it was a Mohanlal project.
I was totally excited as I’m a Lal sir fanboy. More than doing a film with him, I was excited to spend time with Lal sir. I was concerned that there should be something in the script to explore and make me proud. Renjith sir narrated the basic story and told me that he was keen to see me pull off the characters and emotions like how I had done in Saudi Vellaka. So basically, it was the script that came to me and not the other way around. I just re-engineered the layers, the arc, the forest aspect, the nature element, the second half, the mass element.
As a fanboy, how did you envision Mohanlal on screen when you heard the story?
That's the liberty that was given by the production house and my co-writers – they were very open to me. The character, the way the character arc developed, the family atmosphere, the friendship, the emotion with the car, the emotion between the family, the relationships, George - everything was there. My approach was to make it more cinematic. They told me to add the layers and add my touch. The approach was that of a very small family drama, so I brought in the fight sequences, the nature element, the landslides, etc. We needed to be rooted. And I added some fanboy kind of things without disturbing the formula of the movie, without disturbing the arc of the character, Benz. And it worked.
There were comparisons to director Jeethu Joseph’s Drishyam (2013).
Of course! Doing a movie with Mohanlal sir as a common man with a wife and two kids, along with the way he looked and his attitude, and a family in trouble – everyone is comparing it to Drishyam. Around 40 minutes of the film revolves completely around the family, and this is similar to Drishyam. I think in the Indian film industry, this is one of the formulas applied to a family movie – a period where we set the world of the family. Thudarum is based on the eight-point arc structure, as is Drishyam. Then there is a clear genre shift in both films. While Drishyam is a mystery thriller, Thudarum is a revenge drama.
Ad filmmaker Prakash Varma as George, the antagonist, was superb. How did you zero in on him?
I thought George was a very interesting character while writing. The arc and the unpredictability in that character were very exciting. We were looking at some out-of-state artists for this role, but this character needed fluency in Malayalam and was rooted in Ranni, Kerala. He is an experienced police officer, and the kind of dialogue delivery required was very specific. It was right before we went to shoot that my co-writer showed me Prakash's pics and suggested him. I didn’t think he was going to act as he’s a successful ad filmmaker, but he was perfect for George. I met him, narrated the story to him, and when I told him he was playing a role opposite Mohanlal, he was stunned. We worked together on Georg,e and we were very happy. (Smiles)
After all the larger-than-life roles, the audience really seems to love Mohanlal as Benz, a regular guy in a village who’s a family man. Did you expect this?
Yes. When I heard the script at our initial meeting, my initial thought was that Mohanlal would be seen in a very grounded, common man character. He is the kind of hero who fans across all age groups. Everyone can connect with him and every emotion he goes through. As a director, I was getting a script that had all the emotions in the first half of the film – laughter, tears, smiles – and I was damn sure it would be a hit. Of course, we worked on the script and added the mass elements to make it a ‘complete’ Mohanlal movie. That's the confidence that the production house and I had. We had a good ‘Mohanlal package’ in the film. Since Lal sir has fans all over India and around the world, we knew it would appeal to them. When we all watched the final mix and saw the end credits, we knew this was going to be a big film in the industry.
What was Mohanlal's reaction when the film became such a big hit?
He thanked me for my hard work and sent me a message saying, ‘Thank you, I love you, and God bless you.’ He has a lot of gratitude and is very thankful to everyone. He is a superstar, a kind of a brand in the film industry, and is still thanking and showing you a loving, caring attitude. That’s the kind of personality he is. The only thing I wanted from him was a kiss and a hug, and I got it.
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