sarcasm – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: This is not the kind of genre that we have loved through our lives.

Vampire Bat: Well, you know that Malayalam movies usually transcend genres with a lethal approach.

Vampire Owl: Yes, most Malayalam movies do belong to drama category by default.

Vampire Bat: If we go a long way back, each of them is first drama and then anything else.

Vampire Owl: Malayalam movies have dealt with human emotions in a realistic manner.

Vampire Bat: Yes, there has been no gravity defiled in the process.

Vampire Owl: Humans and objects do no fly around in Malayalam cinema.

Vampire Bat: Neither do the villains fly when the heroes move hands.

Vampire Owl: This one does not even have those big stars to feed on our brains with elements of hero worship.

Vampire Bat: Then it also has that name which won’t attract family audience at all.

[Gets a paneer roll and three cups of Sikkim tea].

What is the movie about? :: One night, Prakashan (Renji Kankol) returns home after having some drunken time with his friends. It is very dark, and as he goes through a shortcut, he sees a young man named Vinod (Vineeth Vasudevan) and an unidentified young woman hugging and kissing behind the house of Madhavan (Unnikrishnan Parappa), a veteran carpenter working on a temple project in another village. He sees that it is Vinod’s house on the other side, and the woman can only be from the house of Madhavan. He contacts the local tailor Venu (Unni Raj) to help him find the woman, and Madhavan’s daughter-in-law Nirmala (Vrinda Menon) is estimated to be person who is in the extra-marital relationship, as her room is just behind the wall, and the tailor confirms that from the shadows, her blouse size matches according to the list of women’s body size taken by him for stitching blouses. As they visit the same place on the very next day, they realize that this happens on almost every night without fail, and this is a love affair which could become talk of the town.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: They decide to save the honour of the family by telling Murali (Dhanesh Koliyat), the younger son of Madhavan, and he is quick to inform the father about the same. As Nirmala is one of those young, beautiful women of the village, Murali also goes to same area and waits, only to see Vinod waiting for someone during the same time period. The next day, he follows Nirmala and finds out that she keeps going to Vinod’s mill even though they do not find the need for her to frequent place – she also talks very sweetly to Vinod, which raises further doubts about how intense the relationship has been. They finally inform the husband Mukundan (Rakesh Ushar) who is devastated after hearing the news. He begins to suspect her further as she goes to Vinod’s mill wearing her new saree and even tells him that he could look for a job in the Middle East. He decides to catch both of them from the bathroom outside the house where they seem to go together for sexual intercourse, and calls the people who already know about this to come up with a perfect plan. Now, what can go wrong here?

The defence of Avihitham :: The movie shows a certain number of skills in bringing to the screen how curiosity, rumours and the perpetual need for self-righteousness leads to complications in a simple world. The interactions and strange investigations carried out by local villagers remain something of interest throughout its run, as humour is nice and never overdone, remaining within the limits and not going out of the family mode. The setting itself works in support as we see how well the whole thing is placed in this premise and realistic world. Even without the big stars, this has been achieved with a strong narrative and the use of witty dialogues which also seems to be managed with a calculated smartness. One also cannot deny that fact that between all the drama and comedy, there is also a certain amount suspense being maintained, and the twist would have a say too. There is also a message about the idea of morality, and this would remain a satire about society and what comes to us in the form of tradition. The collective hypocrisy and the forced morals are shown without second thoughts.

The claws of flaw :: The audience can feel that the movie all set on the topic which is rather trivial, or has been explored as part of movies which mainly dealt with other topics. The emotional depth is also not that much to be taken, and we do not feel that much for the characters. The ending also seems forced, and there seems to be silly justifications for extra-marital affairs, and the justifications feel like a little too much, and the final message seems to go on different paths. Justifying the issue of infidelity just became the woman wants to go with a random man might not be right message, no matter how much tradition and righteousness is blamed for not giving the partner the opportunity and right to cheat. The characters are not that much developed, and the final moments do not reveal enough either. There are some repetitive moments when the movie seemingly tries to make its ideas feel superior, and except for that final twist, one keeps wondering why such a weak end had to happen. The struggle to prove something which is not there to be taken keeps pulling the movie down as it moves towards the end too.

The performers of the soul :: Unni Raj as Venu and Renji Kankol as Prakashan leads the way among the cast who are not that much known. If you look at the Wikipedia page of the movie, you will not find even one name which leads to another page which details an actor or actress. The above mentioned are the two actors whom we note first, and the former seems somewhat familiar from the Marimayam series of Mazhavil Manorama television channel. Instead of relying on a single star performance or at least on some well-known names, the cast here works as one unit that powers the movie. Among them, it is Vrinda Menon who plays Nirmala that requires the special mention, as she becomes the centre of attraction, and yet goes through a simple journey, nicely depicted on the screen. Vineeth Vasudevan as Vinod has some fine moments to add here, while Rakesh Ushar and Dhanesh Koliyat add the doubtful characters nicely. With the other female characters, Vijisha Nileshwar, Karthika Vijayakumar and Ammini Chandralayam gets small, but nice situations to contribute to the world.

How it finishes :: Avihitham can be considered as a humorous social satire that uses a simple situation in a usual village to comment on moral policing and where gossips and curiosity can lead people bound by traditions which have provided them with the understanding of accepted good and evil to maintain order in a world which can always go deep down into chaos. The relatable characters, authentic village setting and believable performances make this work, even though the movie seems to take a prejudiced movement forward with its social message. While seemingly working against people going through gossips and interfering in the personal matters of others, it seems to support extra-marital affairs – for the movie, cheating by women feels justified for some strange reason, and the final dialogue by the woman when caught is just the same as those Indian tourists who had shoplifted from supermarkets and souvenir shops of Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, being ready to pay for them only when caught – this attitude which comes from those early tourists who emptied everything from a hotel room and agreed to pay for the same. We think about these, and then enjoy this movie with its simple moments of humour and even a little bit of suspense to go with it.

Release date: 10th October 2025
Running time: 106 minutes
Directed by: Senna Hedge
Starring: Unni Raj, Renji Kankol, Vrinda Menon, Vineeth Vasudevan, Dhanesh Koliyat, Rakesh Ushar, Ajith Punnad, Unnikrishnan Parappa, Aneesh Chemmarathi, T Gopinathan, Vijisha Nileshwar, Ammini Chandralayam, Parvana Raj, Beena Kodakkad, Vismaya Sasikumar, Premalatha, Shyamili Das, Vipin K, Swapna Pallam, Mukesh OMR, Karthika Vijayakumar, Sayanth, Prabhakaran Velaswaram, Shubha C P, Lakshmanan Manniath

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What is the movie about? :: Bineesh (Tovino Thomas) started smoking at an early age, and tries to go on with his life without having any responsibility. He has a few friends around whom most of his life happens. The smoking which he started in school followed him to youth, and even though that bothers his lover Devika (Samyuktha Menon), they continue the relationship. Her father Madhu (Suraaj Venjarammood) is not confident about the relationship as he knows that he is a chain smoker due to which the title “Theevandi” was given to him – there is no positive side in the future which he sees about Bineesh, but he reluctantly agrees as Devika is certain about it. He talks to Bineesh’s brother-in-law, Vijith (Saiju Kurup) who works with him in the same political party and gets Devika and Bineesh engaged.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: But Devika discovers that the smoking habit of Bineesh is beyond all limits and decides that she can no longer continue to be in love with a man who is obsessed with cigarettes. As she decides to be no longer engaged, another problem arises about who would be the next MLA of the constituency, following a terrible accident involving the MLA who has only a few days left to live. The two possible candidates are Bineesh’s brother-in-law and his possible father-in-law which brings another problem to light. In between all of these, is his smoking problem, and as long as the same exists, he can solve nothing. Can there be a solution to Bineesh’s problems, and how far can he go to make it happen? Or will he take the easy way out?

The defence of Theevandi :: There is the certainty of fun as far as Theevandi is concerned. Some jokes will be remembered for longer than we think, that is for sure. The message also arrives strong, and gets stronger and stronger as the movie progresses. The song “Jeevamshamayi Thaane” might be the best moment of the movie, with some other songs to join in. The music of the flick is very good, and there are some nice visuals of the beautiful village at which the flick is based. There is simplicity all around, and the message which the flick deals with, is serious and beyond the limitations. It is complicated when we see the whole of it, and the message against smoking is something of universal relevance. If the movie can inspire at least one person to give up smoking and lead a better life, there is great success being shown here – that one person will surely not be the end of it.

The claws of flaw :: There is no doubt about the fact that Theevandi could have done even better with its content. Being a movie which was supposed to release in June, this has been delayed for too long. The length of the move is also a negative thing, especially considering the fact that the main purpose here to provide one message, the one thing that it attempts more than the others. Some moments which were supposed to be funny, also falls short. The ending of the movie is certainly interesting and feel-good, and after a good beginning, it is the middle part that has somewhat a struggle. The political side could have also been a better satire. The tools and the premise were present there, but we see a struggle to go too deep in there, and maybe that concerns the possible risks.

The performers of the soul :: Tovino Thomas has another role of a flawed hero after Maradona and Mayaanadhi. He has done this job naturally, and there is no moment when he seems to be in trouble. The protagonist’s problems are nicely shown, and the man caught in the terrible situation has our attention. Samyuktha Menon makes a big impact in her first big role. As the industry seems to have less big names among current actresses, her performance here should elevate more of the cinema of these times too. She excels in the romantic and funny sequences, and just holds the ground during emotional scenes. The pair has fine chemistry running through, and the same feeling that was conveyed through the popular romantic song in the movie, goes on even when she seems to show less interest.

Further performers of the soul :: Despite being provided with an exaggerated character, Surabhi Lakshmi manages to bring the most fun of the same. The character seems to be forced into existence without detailed thoughts, but she could manage that, and make things work. Suraj Venjaramood is comfortable in this role which is mostly serious with some chance for comedy. We remember how he nicely kept the balance earlier with Varnyathil Aashanka, Oru Muthassi Gadha, Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum and Aby – here he has no problems in doing the same again. Shammi Thilakan also brings the funny elements, even though for a lesser amount of time. Sudheesh and Vijilesh do leave a few things for the funny side too. Rajesh Sharma is also there leaving a mark.

How it finishes :: These are the days when the Malayalam movies are making a comeback after a short break caused by the Kerala Floods. It is the return of the films as much as the return of the state to the normal world. It is with more interesting releases including Ranam and Theevandi that Malayalam movies are making a return, as movies like Koode and Maradona have been there for quite long. The case of Theevandi is stronger because it deals with a socially relevant movie. Translated better as “the vehicle of fire” rather than as the literal translation “the train”, this movie certainly becomes a better notice against smoking than any of those small advertisements shown in the beginning of the flicks. It marks a fine return of Malayalam movies as it surely seems to serve its purpose. You might also want to watch the video song from the movie which has become so popular.

Release date: 7th September 2018
Running time: 144 minutes
Directed by: Fellini TP
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Samyuktha Menon, Surabhi Lakshmi, Rajesh Sharma, Suraaj Venjarammood, Shammi Thilakan, Sudheesh, Krishna Praba, Neena Kurup, Vijilesh, Musthafa