Retta Thala movie review: An action thriller caught between style, substance, shallow script

Retta Thala plot:

Kaali (Arun Vijay) is a nobody who lives on the streets of Pondicherry. His girlfriend Antre (Siddhi Idnani) is equally poor and wants to leave him to settle in France for a better future. But when Kaali stumbles upon his lookalike, Malpe Upendra, Antre persuades Kaali to kill Upendra for his fortune.

Retta Thala review:

Retta Thala is the story of two lookalikes, one is Goa’s topmost hitman, and the other is a Pondicherry resident who is in love with Antre. The two heads, as referred in the title, symbolise the two men from different walks of life who share similar physical features. But what Retta Thala could have been better as is the story of Antre and Kaali, who share a materialistic relationship, where Antre’s two attitudes towards Kaali depend on the knowledge of how much money his purse has. No offence to Antre, for no one is to blame for aspiring for more money and luxury, especially when the streets have treated you badly. However, Retta Thala is everything but that, and after a point, it becomes a headless chicken not knowing where it is heading; a sleek action thriller or a man’s aspirations to get richer.

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Arun Vijay plays Malpe Upendra, a Goan hitman, and Kaali, who is struggling enough to find his way in life. Apart from their past and slight style variations, they pretty much look the same and are hard to differentiate between. When these two meet, Kaali begins to see a glimpse of what Antre would like: a palatial residence, luxury at every square foot, and, instigated by Antre, Kaali too is enticed to have all the riches for them. It’s funny how we see in the flashback it was the young Antre who gave Kaali a fresh lease of life, but now it is the same person who hands him over the gun. Sure, poverty and exploitation that comes with it are capable of changing a person and their values, but Retta Thala dwell little into, and more on moving onto the next scene. At one point, Antre asks Kaali what he would have done had she escaped with the money, and he was caught, only for her to regret asking the question the next second. Retta Thala wants to establish repercussions rather than intentions, and in turn has very less to develop on characters.

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There is also very little we get to know about Upendra, even as the second half shows some of his backstory. Apart from the logical reasoning as to why Upendra and Kaali look the same, the film also misses on stressing its message of how desire is the root cause for all suffering, only for it to come as an end card, while we hear a gunshot and are left to ponder the fates.

Retta Thala movie verdict:

Retta Thala fails to establish its core conflict; is it the relationship of a couple where money decides their fate, or about two lookalikes who are dangerous to each other. With decent making, Retta Thala had to work on its scripting and intentions. A film that chooses style over substance but leaves a little mark on both fronts.