Varane Avashyamund is a clean family entertainer. Anoop Sathyan's directorial venture manages to carry forward his father's enduring legacy of family-oriented plots.
Varane Avashyamund oozes with fond recollections from some of the earlier accomplishments of director Sathyan Anthikad.
Satyan's 2005 movie Achuvinte Amma revolved around a mother and daughter and how the duo defined their relationship.
Varane Avashyamund could be probably fit into an extended version of that. The movie typically focuses on a mother Neena (Shobhana) and her daughter Nikitha aka Nikki (Kalyani Priyadarshan). Neena is bold, efficient, talented and single mother. Getting eloped and taking divorce was her own decisions in life and when it came to her daughter, Nikki, she decided to go for an arranged marriage. In the due course, Major Unnikrishnan (Suresh Gopi) and Mr Fraud (Dulquer Salmaan) enter their lives.
The best part of the movie undoubtedly is its casting. It's refreshing to see how Anoop used each of his characters giving all of them equal screen space.
The director gives a depth to his characters by untangling their past. In Achuvinte Amma, the crux of the plot was wrapped in the flashback, making it an emotional ride. In Varane Avashyamund, the flashbacks are just moments of reflections which prod the characters move on in their present life.
For instance, in one of the opening scenes, Dulquer Salmaan's character is seen looking at a family riding on scooter without helmet. He notices that and hands over a helmet to the man riding it. This brings a connect with his past. That's how the characters are established.
Old-age romance is indeed an interesting concept and it was refreshing to see the charming duo of Suresh Gopi and Shobhana.
The women characters and their conceptualization are interesting. Apart from looking good in their attires, they demand a sense of conviction. How a daughter is convinced with the old-age romance of her mother is shown through a song, but it would have been more effective if there were some more defining moments.
If you have a wider look, Varane Avashyamund is not about anything in particular, yet it is about everything that matters in life – of having a family, of being in relationships, the little bonds and cherishing little things.
There are chances that viewers may cite too many songs in the movie as a drag, but separate the songs from the movie and you will get one amazing album to listen to. Alphons Joseph has proved that he is one of the rare gems in Mollywood who knows flavours of every kind. If one song has a rap piece, another has a classical touch and other one has a typical feel-good stamp. In fact, the songs played a crucial part in the narrative. Most of the emotional moments were presented through the songs and it would be fine to refer the film as a musical drama.
Suresh Gopi treaded a comic path with this role and certain instances reminded of his characters from Thenkashi Pattanam and Summer In Bethlehem. Most of the cheers in the theatres were for his lines. For Dulquer, the role must have been a cakewalk as someone who has earlier done Jomonte Suvishesham, as an easy going guy who knows his responsibilities.
Kalyani made an impressive debut in Malayalam with her soft yet bold character. The dubbing for her sounded natural. Shobhana was pretty convincing as Neena. It would be hard to imagine anyone else instead of Shobhana for the role.
Suresh Gopi makes a profound statement in the film: 'sometimes you need to venture out to new paths and sometimes you need to go back to your roots'. And here, Anoop Sathyan goes back to where Sathyan Anthikad began his journey with a romantic-feel-good story of familial ties.
With ample dose of fun and a bit of sentiments, Varane Avashyamund is a complete package for family audience. Some films don't need too much of a review, rather it should be watched and enjoyed. Varane Avashyamund belongs to that category.