Varathan: Movie Review (Malayalam)

I am on a Malayalam movie watching spree – given the resurgence in the quality of movies being churned out in the last few years, each begging for rewards and recognition at global levels. I am really happy about this state of affairs. The glut of this sudden talent, in terms of the fresh and original ideas translated to scripts and screenplays brought to life by the technical brilliance of the set of directors like Amal, Abu Ashiq, Anwar Rasheed, Anjali Menon etc, all that is just the tip of the ice-berg. But it’s a sign of times to come and I know, that dam has burst.

Does Varathan belong to that unique set of movies? I am frankly confused after having watched it. So Varathan is touted to be a thriller, from the stables of Amal Neerad known for his technically brilliant movies like Iyobinte Pusthakam, Big B among others. Now thankfully, before I had decided to watch Varathan, I didn’t really have much clue as to what the movie-subject was and that possibly was a reason for the mixed feelings I had, at the end of this movie. 

Now the movie is clearly split into two halves – cinematically, in terms of the treatment as well as the overall storyline and the narrative. And both halves are like chalk and cheese. Completely different from each other. Which was why, as I wrapped up the movie, I was slightly bewildered and confused. Possibly not the desirable state to be in, I guess after watching a movie. Don’t get me wrong, individually the two halves of the movie are just mind-blowing. Just simply astounding in terms of its technical brilliance, the flawless cinematography and the relatable characters that get under your skin. Neerad sets up the premise of an amazing movie that deals subtly with the subject of sexual abuse at different levels without antagonizing even the most neutral viewer, regardless of his stance on the raging topic of feminism today.

Well, it is still a prickly topic, in the fact that, whatever manner that it is handled, it will be criticized. So I was all praise for Amal Neerad ( Let me obviously note here, that I have nothing against feminism!) for the kid-glove sensitive handling of this explosive topic. So making no bones about it, the central theme of Varathan is sexual violence or abuse. The ever-roving eye, the unabashed male gaze that undresses and caresses without physical contact that later, - slowly, ever so slowly - devolves into open threats and full-fledged abuse. The manner in which this unravels is creepy as hell and the jumpy camera-work and the fabulous cinematography completely complements the taut-as-a-knife palpable tension that cuts sharply at the audience. There are scenes where you are thrust into the shoes of a voyeur, either watching silently or stalking the heroine and then you cut to the central protagonist subjected to this leery behaviour - and you are appalled and disgusted in equal measure. Very clever camera work indeed. 


The story starts off on a bright note but you feel that glint of darkness in the fateful events that are conspiring against this young couple, so obviously in love with each other and their set life in Dubai - that goes off-rail slowly but surely. Where they decide to move to rural Kerala, to put their heels up and re-discover possibly the joie-de-vivre that was missing in the desert-and-skyscrapers metropolis.
Our first hint of that creepy male gaze starts off in the taxi-car from the airport where the driver is taking a surreptitious look at the loving couple, specifically her.

Aby and Priya are trying to "settle" down to domestic obscurity in this remote village, to the idea of waking up to the delightful sounds of the garden cuckoo, having fresh organic milk, daily walks up and down meandering mountain paths and just experience the little joys of life - even as Aby tries to piece together his "start-up" ambitions while Priya is content to do remote calls and work on her software engineering job. But Priya had caught the eye of this sleepy village, even when she was a kid. Having been one of the school toppers, she's been the 'untouchable' unattainable girl for the backbenchers. Now that she is back, the backbenchers all grown up into lanky lads with no real credential to their names other than meting out jungle justice to the alleged road-romeos they catch out in the mountain roads, are all restless and itching to have another "go" at her. As these things go in real life as well, Priya is the first one to notice that things aren't all hunky-dory and that shadowy presence outside their bedroom window, is not just her figment of imagination. The limited premise of evil of a different unexpected type in a sleepy village hamlet of Kerala, is actually very well handled and drawls out slowly through the first half - where you are on your toes, dread making your toes curl as you wait for the axe to fall. 

The movie rotates through various montages of 'stalker' behaviour - the shadowy presence outside windows, the phone camera stuck outside a bathroom window, the peeping tom through the skylight, the early morning visits when the husband is not at home and ending off with that scary chase on the winding mountain roads, that becomes a crucial turning point in the narrative line. 

Fahadh Faasil is excellent. Going on to stamp his authority in the Mollywood A-list actors list (Not a very long active list that!) But I doubt if any of the others today can even get close to the maturity he's achieved in terms of acting. Watch the delectable set of expressions passing over his face that convey his anguish and helplessness at being able to make his own wife feel safe, in this veritable slice of green that becomes an unexpected hellish prison for the couple in the depths of Kerala. But Aishwarya Lekshmi matches the brilliant actor, frame for frame and for just her third outing, she manages to be compelling enough to be able match screen-presence with a powerhouse of a talent, like Fahadh. Watch out for Sharafudeen in a brilliantly portrayed grey role. The background sound score adds to the chilling atmosphere that pervades through the movie. 

Amal Neerad's signature camera fetishes for close up and slow-mo action unfurls only in the late second half. And while I enjoyed this sudden pitch up into an explosive action-thriller format, I felt it was inconsistent in terms of the tones that presaged this, in the movie. But not much complaints. After all, we knew something like this had to come out in an Amal movie. After all, the movie introduces Fahad Fazil in and as "Varathan" - literally the outsider. I am not sure if the makers were gunning to sensitive viewers to the perils of sexual predators, even in the unlikely villages of India (And that too, in a state like Kerala an antithesis to the uneducated backyards of states like Gurgaon or Rajasthan!) but it's definitely a commendable effort. A slow-burning fuse that is lit into a roaring inferno by the climax,  a dark thought-provoking movie worth a watch.