Thenali

Thenali

Thenali Soman is a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee who has come to Chennai for psychiatric treatment. This is because of numerous phobias he has developed due to the Sri Lankan civil war. B. Pancha Bhootam and his assistant, the doctors treating Thenali, are jealous of a relatively junior doctor Kailash getting substantial media attention. They send Thenali over to him, believing his failure to cure Thenali of his phobias will derail his success. Soon after Thenali's first appointment with Kailash, the latter plans to head to Kodaikanal on vacation with his wife Jalaja and their two children. He tells Thenali to wait until after the vacation before his therapy can begin, but Panchabhootham asks for Thenali to go meet Kailash while on vacation. Thenali reaches Kailash's Kodaikanal house. He falls in love with Janaki, Kailash's younger sister, which is vehemently opposed by the latter. Kailash becomes increasingly mad with Thenali's antics and even begins to suspect that his wife has an affair with Thenali, as she has a soft corner for the latter. He later sends Thenali to prison on a false charge, but this results in negative media attention and Janaki becoming depressed, so Kailash begrudgingly has Thenali released, saying the arrest was simply part of his "therapy". He eventually tries to kill Thenali by tying him to a tree with a time bomb.

Director

K. S. Ravikumar

Release

26 Oct 2000

Run time

165 min

Language

Tamil