Sub-inspector Athiyamaan is in no hurry to abandon his cherished cup of tea. So what if a murder has occurred? The body isn’t going anywhere, he reasons.
Athiyamaan is anything but slack or callous. He’s a bit of a rural Sherlock with enhanced powers of ratiocination that has led to tolerance, if not acceptance, of his eccentric ways. Athiyamaan (Samuthirakani) is days away from retirement when he gets involved with a case worth of his grey cells.
People have been hacked to death. The only item taken is the taali, the piece of jewellery that indicates marital status among women. Athiyamaan has some ideas into how the murders have taken place.
For the motive, he must team up with his new boss Lakshmi (Sshivada) and cross over the border that separates Tamil Nadu from Andhra Pradesh. Lakshmi is initially reluctant to trust Athiyamaan, but she comes to see the method behind his supposed madness.
Thadayam on ZEE5 is inspired by actual events that took place in 1999. Written and directed by Navinkumar Palanivel, Thadayam, meaning “clue”, is an engrossing show that isn’t just about criminals, but also the police who are chasing them.
The six-episode series examines a violation of legal guarantees that tips the killers (Raj Tirandasu and Sundharpandyan) over the edge. As Athiyamaan and Lakshmi dig deeper, they unearth troubling truths about how law enforcement agencies work in these remote regions, and how disgruntled elements might react to perceived injustice.
Mostly in Tamil with a bit of Telugu, the crisp show is amply suspenseful and a decently rigorous police procedural. However, the question of why the killers don’t go after their most obvious target is never suitably answered.
As Athiyamaan, Samuthirakani has a stolid and solid mien. He’s believable as the veteran cop who has come to see the limitations of his job, as well as empathetic in the moments when Athiyamaan finally confronts the killers.
Sshivada’s main task is to provide back-up to Athiyamaan’s rustic brilliance, which she ably does. Raj Tirandasu, the blade-in-the-mouth actor from Pushpa: The Rise, is striking as one of a pair of murderous souls with a tragically familiar back story.
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