The greatness of Ta Tomba
A Manipuri Feature Film Review of "Ta Tomba"
Ta-Tomba, the Great, the latest Manipuri digital film spins out from the stable of dream merchants of Treasure Island Production is a roller coaster ride of family drama with full of laughter and tear jerking moments.
The story line in its simple unidirectional plot tells the story of a simple castaway ugly orphaned young man from a village who went on to become a popular movie star and ultimately tames the hearts of even his adversaries.
In his own words, the director of the film, Kishorekumar says 'the central theme is about the innate humane qualities of a person. The outward appearance of a person is like the cloths that one wears, which might become worn out in due course of time. But the heart that is devoid of any malice shines out always'.
The thoughts and ideas of the director has been acted out to perfection by Kaiku (Somarendro) who breathed life into the role of the protagonist, Ta-Tomba.
It is much to the artistic talent of the young actor who rises to stardom riding on the popular music video album wave, that the audience remain glued to the screen (despite the usual uncomfortable seats in the cinema halls of Manipur) for more than 2 and half hours enjoying every frame and sequence. Despite his obnoxious physical appearance, Ta-Tomba, possess a heart that is loyal within.
He grew up in a respectable and happy family along with Thadoi (Manda) whom he considers as his real sister.
The complication in the story comes when the head of the family (RK Sanajaoba) married again and the step mother played by Meema at her vampish best yet again plotted along with her daughter-in-law to usurp all the properties of the family.
Ta-Tomba is thrown out of the family on false charges of stealing gold ornaments and unable to bear the pang of separation, the head of the family passes away behind the hapless daughter in the midst of the scheming step-mother and her city bred daughter-in-law.
Left alone in the world, Ta-Tomba comes to the city where he meets one of his childhood friends, Chingkhei (Guna) and gets the job of a spot boy in a film producing unit. By the grace of the lady luck in the form of film actress Thoibi (Kamala), Ta-Tomba's begins a new life.
Though the exposure of Ta-Tomba to the film world is a ploy to bring about a transformation in the character of the protagonist from that of a ugly frog to a charming prince, the director takes the opportunities of making a dig at some of the pseudo directors in the present Manipuri film industries who rely on the star power of the hero or heroine rather than on their directing skills.
Though the romantic side of Ta-Tomba and Thoibi has not been developed properly, the absence has not been made to feel by a parallel sub-plot on the love triangle of Thadoi, Dr Thoiba (played by Pritam) and Dr Kavita (Laimayum Anushka), who though appears only for a short duration leaves an impact on the audience with her suave acting.
The much needed comic relief in the movie is provided by Guna who leaves the audiences split with laughter with his comic idiosyncrasies and funny dialogues.