It is quite rare that we come across a storyline that goes like this - a younger brother Thoma 'kidnaps' his Down syndrome-affected older one, Sebu alias Ismu, from the latter's foster parents. While more often than not, the motive is money, here it is the foster parents' (Gopan Mangat and Shanti Krishna) intent to only adopt Sebu that drives things.

The film's opening credits and sequences remind us of a time that is probably closest to the '80s and paint a heartwarming picture. Thoma (George Kora) is now a grown man, employed at a bakery and has the uphill task of making Sebu (Gopikrishna Verma) remember their childhood and their late parents. And what does a third character played by Sarasa Balussery bring to the fray forms the rest of the story.

Thirike's main intent is to treat a special kid as an ordinary one and it is quite a winner on that front and succeeds very well at that. When Shanti Krishna refers to the child as a special one, Thoma can't help himself but ask, why do you do that?

However, one can't call Thirike a film without its set of flaws. Thoma's character takes his time to get there and can be classified as being over the top. At times, the film feels like it is confused and is jumping timelines and can't decide between whether it is a film of today's time or happy being stuck in the 90s.

It is also hard to box Thirike under one particular genre. While, at times, the film comes across as inspirational, at other times, it sounds like a solid family drama.

However, several moments make up for the dips, for instance, Sarasa Balussery's character addressing children ignoring their parents, being a case in point. The climax, to a larger extent, saves whatever gaps in filmmaking we come across.

As far as the performances are considered, George Kora, as the writer and the lead actor makes you sit up and take notice of things. The rest of the actors are adequate. On the technical front, Cherin Paul with his amazing photography deserves much of the applause so does Ankit Menon for his impressive music and background score.

Whether you are a parent or on the way to becoming one, or thinking about being one in the future, Thirike will force you to take a long look at parenthood and the responsibilities that come with it!