Varavu

Varavu is the kind of film that gives one the feeling that the action sequences were probably planned out first, with an excuse of a storyline added later. Well, there should be a reason for the fights.

Fine, none of this is new territory for Malayalam cinema, and dated material by itself is hardly a crime. The problem is Varavu doesn't even try to adapt itself to 2026 sensibilities.

There was a time when a Shaji Kailas film meant a specific thing in Malayalam cinema. It meant a larger-than-life hero, a powerful villain with a backstory worth caring about, heavy dialogues delivered with chest-thumping conviction, and action sequences that shook the single screens of Kerala.