Thenali

Thenali is a man living with panophobia, a persistent fear that shapes his daily life, and he turns to Dr. Kailash for treatment. Kailash refuses to take him on as a patient. When Kailash later leaves on a holiday with his family, Thenali attaches himself to the trip, and during their time together he wins over Kailash's sister.

The film is a Tamil-language comedy drama from India, released in October 2000 and running 165 minutes. It was directed and written by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by R. Karpagam under R. K. Celluloids. It followed Ravikumar's Pistha, Padayappa and Suyamvaram, and his next film after it was Panchatanthiram. Kamal Haasan plays the title character, Thenali Soman, with Jayaram as Dr. Kailash. Devayani appears as Jalaja, Jyothika as Janaki, and Delhi Ganesh and Charle round out the main cast as Dr. Panchabhootam and Kanthaswamy respectively.

Audience response has been favourable over the years. On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.6 out of 10 from roughly 2,800 votes, and on TMDB it sits at 7 out of 10 from a much smaller base of 24 votes. The larger IMDb sample points to a durable following for the comedy, while the limited TMDB count reflects its narrower reach outside its home market.