About Echcharikkai (Thunkkaadal – 3):
Understanding the core: Stories of people who lost their money and their sufferings
Analysis and critic:
The core of the story and the script is very nice. The way the screenplay was carried in a good way. I appreciate the idea of giving an intro to the title. It was a bit interesting at the same time appreciable. The way the film presented its cast and crew was good and the background with news and WhatsApp texts are pretty interesting. It triggered my curiosity to watch the film. The only thing I felt a bit monotonous was the introduction of the cast and crew part was lengthy and I was waiting for the film to start. But still, the introduction part was continuing. Apart from the lengthy cast and crew introduction, the intro part was good.
Echcharikkai (Thunkkaadal – 3) short film starts with suspense that someone’s son was kidnapped. Immediately showing 6 grid frames. There everyone is shocked about something. Then the scene starts within a temple where someone is praying and wishing for his mother to get well soon. I should appreciate the director for recording the live audio at the scenario. It felt lively. There he explains his situation. So there, we can get an idea of what could be the situation of the protagonist.
I need to do a special appreciation for the cinematographer. I liked the way in the first scene where the camera focus transferred to the other protagonists – The dad and the son. I like the way the cinematographer handled the camera. Here I need to tell you the frames are good, but the way it was edited and presented felt a bit amateurish fake. It was not as casual as reality. It looked like a drama at that particular scene. The wide-angle was very impressive, but the screen presence felt like it spoiled the camera. What could have done means, without turning the camera, the scene should be carried in the same way it was shot.
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After the temple scene, the film continued with the hospital scene. The doctor was calm and the background was filled with so many details that lifted the scene. The scene conveyed the hospital atmosphere very well. So we can understand that background plays a major role. In this scene, the doctor was explaining his mother’s situation and asking him to prepare the money to bring her back to normal health. The scene and the dialogues are very well scripted. But I was not convinced with the sitting position of the protagonist. Imagine how we will be there in that situation. We don’t sit calmly and listen to his speech. I cannot feel the seriousness of his mother through the scene. It may be because of the sitting position of the protagonist and his lack of screen presence.
Then the film narrates the story of a young man whose wish is to buy a motorbike. He was looking at the bike in an open showroom and asking the representative about the bike. He is asking him to prepare the money to buy the motorbike. The young man makes a promise not to sell that bike to anyone and says he’ll come with money. In this scene, I was satisfied but to some extent. The acting was normal and no noticeable flaw.
The next scene is introducing another story of a family of 3 members. There I’m not satisfied with the scene. The scene felt harsh and it conveyed something wrong when presented. Apart from the story, it is important to look at the message we produce to the audience that should not be pitiful. The mother was uploading the video of his son. My question is why that scene was projected in that way. It is a kind of oppression over a gender. Why is it that the man in the home went to work and came home tired? Also, he was shouting harshly at his wife. Why the scene needs to be like it. It may convey the view that women at home don’t care about their family and they should obey the orders of their husbands. In this generation, we cannot present a film with this ideology. If present, it would end up in vain. Besides, the acting of the wife’s character felt a little unusual and unrealistic.
The next scene was showing the boy whom we met in the temple. The scene starts with the frame of that boy. I felt the way he started the dialogue was like not acting but just narrating. He was looking at something which related to his savings. But he lost his total amount in a fraudulent investment. This scene was not clearly defined. The scene board had not enough details to understand the film or the plot. It seems like the plot of this film starts here. But it was empty and lacked details. I would have enjoyed the scene if it had the details of the organization, in which platform he invested, how much money he invested when he invested etc. We know about the 5W’s and 2H’s. A scene should convey everything in this way. It should satisfy these rules. I felt missing when I tried to understand the scene. Even the father was not shocked when he heard that all money he saved for his daughter’s marriage was lost. Here, he was not shocked enough and he was worried about the notice and other kinds of stuff. The immediate reaction should be about how he lost, how much he lost etc. But the script didn’t even bother about it. There I felt a bit disappointed in the script. The same thing was happening to all four.
So the Echcharikkai (Thunkkaadal – 3) short film is about the stories of 1 main protagonist and 3 sub-protagonists. Likewise, the young man getting scolded by the representative of the open showroom. The 3rd protagonist’s son was kidnapped by someone and the mother calling the protagonist to give the money and bring their son back. The scene was well designed, but the dialogues or the presentation were not convincing. The wife at one place delivers a local language, suddenly she is speaking a grammatically good language. That makes it odd for the scene.
Now the main protagonist also lost his money that he saved for his mother’s operation. Suddenly he is getting a call from the doctor. The doctor told him over a phone call that his mother passed away. If he brought the money, they could have saved her. He started crying and worrying.
I need to appreciate the protagonist for his acting skill. His crying scenes were admiring and realistic. Here the logic is not suitable for this script. He was crying aloud inside a car. He regrets his mistake that he didn’t care much about his mother and invested in some organization and was betrayed. But why he is crying inside and regretting inside a luxury-looking car?
If he wants to save his mother, he should even sell his car to save her. When a son is regretting that much should also do anything to save his mother. If the scene is not having the car in the scene, I would have given my full appreciation to the scene. The only thing I felt odd about was his car. The acting when he hears after 8 years the couple going to have a baby was appreciable. He acted well in that scene. I love the way it was presented. Speaking about the background score here, it was not mixed well with Echcharikkai (Thunkkaadal – 3) short film or the scene. He was crying like hell, but the music was percussion. It had no way to justify the scene. I would enjoy it if there was a pleasing and melting violin or piano to convey the grief.
The immediate next scene is showing a girl who is sending some voice message to someone. Then she was dragged back by someone. The next shot shows it was the protagonist who dragged back and at this spot he pushes her down. He is asking the group who made that fraud activity. The girl was lying on the ground till someone from the group come and picks her up. That was odd for the scene. It shouldn’t be in that way, the shot was not realistic and again it shows the immaturity. The fighting scene was good enough but satisfactory. The crew tried to make it more realistic, but the way it was presented felt awkward. Even if had hadn’t any fight scene, It would go well. At the same time, when the girl kicked from the back, the protagonist saying dialogue was not going to lift the scene. He said “ponnunganaale pinnadi dhaan kuthuraalunga”. The script from the beginning trying to portray a woman as cunning gender. If this film was taken into account for a debate, they will sure question this dialogue. As a filmmaker, it should also serve the ideology of the people mindset. This one particular dialogue was against progressiveness. Later the fight went without a proper conclusion.
Later, the climax part shows three people are in a conference call discussing the protagonist. Echcharikkai (Thunkkaadal – 3) short film script reveals the face of the antagonist. During the 2nd antagonist speech, the camera focused on his face. That time I’m not sure whether the team noticed it or not. He is acting like he was on a conference call. But the phone’s display was on the home screen. It was a big mistake when shooting. Hope the team would rectify it later. The 3rd antagonist’s acting and dialogue delivery were very impressive. It was realistic and energetic. After his dialogues, the movie ends with the message of what it wanted to convey. If you ask me whether this made justice to the script and title or not, I will say it was made but to some extent.
If you ask me to give rating for this Echcharikkai (Thunkkaadal – 3) short film,
For story – I would give 8/10
For screenplay – I would give 7/10
For cinematography – I would give 7/10
For direction – I would give 6/10
For music and sounds – I would give 6/10
For climax – I would give 7/10
Over all I would give 6/10.
[If you’re not open to constructive criticism, then you are not open to truly growing as a person]
Watch ECHARIKAI (THUNUKAADAL 3) Tamil Short film now
This Short film review Credit goes to Thozhamaiyan.
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