Thadayam web series review: Samuthirakani is a solid protagonist in preachy crime drama with no payoffs

Thadayam web series review: Samuthirakani heads a crime drama that wants to teach a lesson but forgets to become memorable and justifiable

Thadayam web series review

Thadayam

Thadayam series plot:

In 1996, a year after the murder of a counsellor, a series of killings take place in the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border. The waist chain of the murdered men, and wedding chains of women are stolen by the culprits and this continue to happen on a massive scale on both sides of the border. SI Adhiyamaan (Samuthirakani) who is chastised by his department for being incompetent, gets into the probe after SI Lakshmi (Sshivada) learns the potential in him.

Thadayam series review:

Its the 90s when cell phone presence has not come to rural Tamil Nadu. A cop who is amid his investigation uses the landline at the place of probing to call to one of his tuition students to tell that he won’t be taking classes today. One might think why a cop who is dealing serious cases like serial killing had to make a call for his side gig at the place of his investigation. But if you think a little, it is about how hardened the cop has got used to his role and seeing violence at work, that it makes him go about finishing his other chores on the go. Not to forget how the politics of power and system has made him give up on himself and act dumb. Thadayam , as much as it wants to concentrate on the crime drama and serial killer story, makes a fantastic attempt in carving a detailed protagonist character, but fails in concentrating the narrative. Its flaws are evident and even overpowers a central character that strong.

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Thadayam is set somewhere in the Andhra Pradesh- Tamil Nadu border, and the series of killings are chilling; the only commonality and cues being a question mark on a wall written in blood, and the wedding and waist chains from the victims taken off. The murderers are not after money and we know the police deduce this soon. There is no hide and seek with the audience either, as the duo killers are shown in parallel, with the crux being how Adhiyamaan and co. would catch hold of culprits. The episodes are rushed and when finally, the reasons are spelt out, the series relies on morality and insufficient logic to back its emotions. Not a spoiler, but when Lakshmi wonders why the killers commit almost 70 murders to cover up 7 murders, we are not given an answer. And speaking of Lakshmi, an SI who faces the wrath of patriarchy, thanks to her impending wedding and displeasure from her future in-laws. Time and again we are shown this parallel track, but does it really impact the narrative or have any stakes to what the series talks overall, beyond its arbitrary mention? It’s questionable.

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Thadayam has some responsibility talks towards the end, that takes a preachy turn. Why the killers did what they did, and how the seven lives were different from that of the rest of the massacre they committed. The morally and socially responsible arc comes as a sudden introduction, and the series falls from what it tried to build so long. In addition to this, given the audience are already aware who the killers are, the series takes very less effort to bring anything interesting to the narrative when the cops and killers get to know each other.

Thadayam series verdict:

Thadayam sets out to be a crime drama and have its own flavour to it, with its period setting, peculiar killings and detailed protagonist. But somewhere it loses focus and becomes a preachy lesson with its sudden want to take up social responsibilities. The pay offs are weak, making Thadayam an average outing that fumbles midway.

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