Thankamani (film)

The movie opens with the cold-blooded murder of a politician by an unknown assailant. As the investigation unfolds, Arpitha Nath IPS, the lead investigator, discovers similarities between this murder and the killing of a police officer a year earlier. Delving deeper, she connects these crimes to the Thankamani incident and begins unravelling the events of 1986 in the village. This leads her to Abel Joshua Maathan, a Thankamani resident who, like many others, suffered from police brutality. Arpitha learns that Abel is responsible for the murders. But his hitlist includes more people, all involved in the 1986 incident. The rest of the film follows Arpitha’s pursuit of Abel and his attempts to fulfil his mission.

Thankamani marks the first collaboration of Ratheesh Reghunandan, who previously directed Udal (2022), with Dileep.^[3] It is produced by R. B. Choudary under the banner Super Good Films, in association with Iffaar Media of Raaffi Mathirra.^[4] It will be the 97th production of Super Good Films and the 18th production of Iffaar Media.^[5] The film was tentatively titled D 148, as it is the 148th film of Dileep.^[6] The film was officially announced on 27 January 2023 in Kochi with a pooja ceremony held at the Crowne Plaza hotel.^[7][8] Joshiy inaugurated the function by lighting the Nilavilakku, while Jiiva performed the switch-on, and producer Raaffi Mathirra gave the first clap.^[9] The official title Thankamani was announced on 4 September 2023.^[10] In order to shoot the action sequences, the makers have hired action directors like Siva, Supreme Sundar, Rajashekhar and Mafia Sasi.^[11][12]

After her previous appearance in Paappan (2022), Neeta Pillai signed to play the female lead.^[13][14] Pranitha Subhash, who is making her debut in Malayalam cinema, was cast to play another female lead.^[15]

Principal photography commenced with the first schedule on 28 January 2023 at CMS College Kottayam, and reportedly, around 500 junior artists were involved.^[16][17] Dileep joined the shoot in the first week of February.^[18] Erattupetta, Kanjirappally, Koottickal, Poonjar, Kuttikkanam and Peermade were other prominent filming locations.^[19] The first schedule was completed on 8 March 2023 after a 40-day shoot.^[20][21] The crew began the second schedule on 8 May 2023 in Kattappana and nearby locations.^[22][19] With the help of art director Manu Jagath, a set was constructed on 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) of land near Kattappana to shoot some important scenes, involving a thousand junior artists for 15 days.^[20][16] The shooting wrapped up on 17 August 2023 in Kattappana.^[23][24]

The Indian Express rated 1 out of 5 stars and wrote: "Dileep's performance in the film is particularly dismal, even worse than his previous work in Bandra."^[25] The Times of India rated 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ratheesh Reghunandan's film based on real-life incident fails to impress".^[26] Hindustan Times wrote "Dileep's film is a major let-down, dilutes real-life tragedy with needless romance".^[27] Onmanorama wrote "Dileep walks a tightrope between daring, melodrama" ^[28] Times Now rated 3 out of 5 and wrote "a decent premise let down by poor screenplay".^[29]