A wistful, almost meditative take on the Hollywood Tarantino knew

The opening credits of Thorati provide a pleasant surprise. Usually a space reserved for disclaimers like ‘No animals were harmed / Characters are not based on anyone’, in Thorati , it instead claims that the film is ‘not karpanai‘ and the events it depicts actually happened in Southern Tamil Nadu. It has been some time since we saw a ‘based on true events’ period film in Tamil cinema, and Thoratti, set in 1980s Ramanathapuram, is staged so wonderfully that we are actually transported to that milieu for the entire runtime. Cast: Shaman Mithru, Sathyakala Director: P Marimuthu Thoratti is a word that refers to the tool (a sickle mounted on a stick)…