Reviews

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  ★★★★½ review by Milez Das on Letterboxd

  Regional Cinema is where the heart is at currently in Indian Cinema... There are so many great movie are made yet they get lost sometimes...

  But I am glad Thithi got released here and got to watch it... I had to go a long way to see this one...

  Thithi is a story consisting of three story lines. It all starts with Century Gowda dying... Why Century Gowda, because he lived over 100 years. So from his death all the rumble starts. Now the three stories are connected told through Century Gowda's son called as Beard Man (You can see him on the poster), his grandson as Thamanna and great grandson Abhi.

  It is all a tale of these three living their lives in their own way of fulfillment. Beard Man is a person roaming through all the village, stealing money to fulfill his daily quota of brandy and playing a tiger-sheep game with children, whereas Thamanna is looking for a way to make money by selling the family land and Abhi just want to shag the shepherds daughter.

  Even though the story revolves between these three, the detailing every little character in this movie is significant. Even after the movie is finished, you remember every character you caught up with. Every tiny detail, the humor, the breath of the their lives and misfits they do is something beautifully told.

  Raam Reddy the writer and director of the film does a brilliant job getting all these non professional actors to act so naturally. I mean the characters are so beautifully crafted here.

  Thithi is something you can enjoy yet appreciate in all terms. It is a movie that comes in your lap in a long time. So do no miss it.

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  ★★★★½ review by Runcil Rebello on Letterboxd

  In the second half of the movie, Gadappa becomes a raconteur to a few sheep-herders and narrates a particularly heart-rending yarn, and at the end, delivers a simple truth: "What is meant to happen, happens. No one has any control over it. So it's better to just be happy, isn't it?"

  In the end, this movie about fathers and sons lives by that mantra too. Thamanna's character, although the story is ostensibly about him, gets thrown to the kerb, only to be overshadowed by his own father and son: a father and son who don't care about his need for land and legacy.

  All the lead characters stray from their paths. Thamanna, wanting to get some money, decides to sell out his father, Gadappa. Thamanna's son, Abhi, strays in a way that seems like a crossing of the threshold for most teens. Meanwhile, Gadappa himself literally strays, unbeknownst to his family and eventually into the sheep-herders' extended household.

  The movie is very light-footed in how it does that. It lulls you into a stark, rural rhythm before culminating at a chaotic thithi (final funeral ceremony), one that the musicians towards the end say has been organised for our entertainment. And entertaining this movie is; even though death pervades the film, the movie doesn't get weighed down by it.

  Moreover, director Raam Reddy and cinematographer Doron Tempert's blocking is immaculate, finding humour in instances almost accidentally. It's as if we too just strayed onto the path of this routine yet fascinating tale.

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  ★★★★ review by Kannan on Letterboxd

  In a recent interview with Rajeev Masand, Anurag Kashyap has mentioned that 'In a massive film, when you can't create a set then the entire city is your set'. There are so many films set in a village or small town but only few films like Thithi, Fandry, Deool, Azhagar saamiyin Kudhirai, Aadukalam, Vennila kabadi kuzhu, Maheshinte prathikaaram etc.. where they have not used the village or a small town just as a setting for a film but as character in the film itself. As the film progresses, we don't just witness a movie in a canvas screen but we travel along with the character in every streets of the village or town. In some cases, we get to know and familiarize the roads, routes that the characters takes and our way around their homes of these characters in the movie etc.. At one point in time, more than a movie watch it would turnout as if you witness all these characters and happenings during a wonderful outing or a summer getaway to that village or town. This is the power of the films mentioned above. After seeing some of the works of Iranian filmmakers like Mohsen Makhmalbaf (A moment of Innocence), Abbas Kiarostami (Close-up, Taste of Cherry, Where is my friends house?) I longed to find and such gems in Indian Cinema. Thanks to the Internet and power of Word of mouth in social media, one could get to know about the gems in the regional cinema and watch them. This little kannada film, Thithi, deserves all the praise and appreciation it gets. Films like these which tells more about its roots, culture and characters must be celebrated more and more. Like Lucia & U Turn fame Pawan Kumar, director Raam Reddy is someone who should we definitely watch out for in Kannada cinema.

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  ★★★★½ review by Balaji Dussa on Letterboxd

  Thithi comes as breathe of fresh air in Indian cinema. Simple, effective,hearty entertainment. Humor was pleasant surprise.

  The movie is so natural and very realistic. Director Raam reddy blended humor with such typical issues in a village. Must watch

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  ★★★½ review by Shikhar Verma on Letterboxd

  "What is meant to happen, happens. No one has any control over it. So it's better to just be happy, isn't it?"

  Ram Reddy's Thithi is laced with extremely funny characters. Ones that go down the lanes of generations who have their own problems, obsessions & aims in life. While the film surrounds itself along life & death, Thithi is a very strong character study of the various people who formulate a family. Their differences are weighed down and trodden by their desires & wish fulfillment while they roam around to the next stop that serves their favorite little brandy!

  The narrative of Reddy's Thithi moves around Century Gowda's demise & the following 11 days until the family has to give a grand lunch for his death. What makes Reddy's film memorable is its range of grounded characters that are completely distinct yet equally believable to say the least.

  Thithi is a comedy of errors, believes, mishaps, peace, love, hate, betrayal and so on a so forth. Every single character feels alive, charming & whimsical at the same time.

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