Varathan is a thriller-action drama movie directed by Amal Neerad starring Fahadh Faasil, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sharafudheen, Dileesh Pothan and various other talented faces and it tells the story of Abin and Priya, a couple settled in Dubai who after going through some hurdles in their personal and professional lives decides to move to Priya's father's estate back in Kerala. But things are not so friendly over there and the couple is faced with men who crave for a woman's body and a society of people who mock at a man and woman together.
Varathan is truly an entertaining movie, but it has it share of problems. However let us start with the good stuff first.
Firstly, the cinematography is jaw-dropping. Littil Swayamp has done it once in Parava and has done it again in Varathan and he is proving he is one of the most talented people in the industry. The camera shots and setting are presented beautifully and there is some amazing stuff to be seen towards the end of the movie.
Secondly, the acting. Fahadh Faasil knocks it out of the park once again as Abin, which we should be expecting at this point. He is one of the best in the malayalam industry. This is not in anyway the maximum of his potential as his character is one which does not have a lot of depth but its fine. Aishwarya Lekshmi gives out a genuinely good performance. Her character could have been annoying but she handles it with grace. Dileesh Pothan is fine as his character however he does not have much to do. The absolutely amazing performances of the movie belong to Sharafudeen and Vijilesh. They were fricking amazing, menacing, ruthless and genuinely annoying.
The background score and action scenes are very well done and put out a good show.
The bad parts of the movie are prominent. The movie falls into cliche territory, with a lot of the plot being predictable. You can see stuff happening miles before they actually happen and this is bad for any movie. This predictability makes the majority of the movie difficult to get through and thus the movie lags a lot. The plot is stretched out for so long. The director is intending to build the characters and the plot, however personally I feel as if these characters does not have much to be built about as they are caricatures of what they portray. Also a minor nitpick I have with this movie is that the songs does not really match the tone of the movie. Some of the songs break up that tone of the movie with booming EDM music which I thought were unnecessary.
However, I must mention the final 15-20 minutes of the film which will shake up the theatre. The action sequences are so goddamn good!
All in all, Varathan is an enjoyable thriller-action flick with some fine acting, good bgm, incredible cinematography and action sequences that will stick on your mind long after the credits roll.
