Film: Varshangalkku Shesham
Director: Vineeth Sreenivasan
Cast: Dhyan Sreenivasan, Pranav Mohanlal, Nivin Pauly, Basil Joseph, Aju Varghese, Kalyani Priyadarshan
Rating: 3/5
In a recent interview, Vineeth Sreenivasan passionately discussed his father’s advice while making a film, which he faithfully adheres to. The advice is simple: if you can craft about ten to fifteen impactful scenes, you have a potential hit in your hands. Reflecting on Vineeth’s past successful films, many of which have become dated over time, this advice rings true. 'Varshangalkku Shesham' is no different. About two unlikely friends, Venu and Murali, embarking on a journey in pursuit of their cinematic dreams in the yesteryear Malayalam cinema’s land of dreams, Kodambakkam aka ‘Madirashi’. Venu is an aspiring storyteller with an unassuming charm, while Murali is a gifted musician with a whimsical air about him.
Make no mistake, the outline of this tale of love-hate friendship is as old as the hills. Even adding cinema of the bygone era as its major backdrop hardly brings anything new. Also, the turns are so predictable and generic that you could see most of them coming from miles away. In spite of all that, the film gloriously grabs you by the throat with its emotionally heavy narrative sprinkled with uproarious humor, especially when the film shifts gears into the present day.
'Varshangalkku Shesham' unmistakably romanticizes the past and the arduous journey of cinema aspirants from previous eras. Also, given the way it treads in the latter hour, it gives you an impression that the inception of this film arose from a trigger: the lack of respect towards eminent film personalities of the past among today’s younger generation.
After a mostly inert stretch set in the green expanse of Kerala, Vineeth gains his mojo as he starts painting Kodambakkam of yore. The montage stretch adorned by the song headlined by K S Chithra, Jeevithagadhakale, particularly leaves a lasting impression with Viswajith Odukkathil’s quaint visuals beautifully capturing the ambition of those who dreamt of making it big in cinema. Amrit Ramnath’s lovely soundtrack does not feature chartbusters in particular, but the whole soundtrack blends so well that it offers a soothing experience for most of its running time. Nyabagam, penned by the composer’s mother Bombay Jayashri, being used as a leitmotif in the film, was, of course, the highlight of the album.
In a few ways, 'Varshangalkku Shesham' is reminiscent of 'Udayananu Tharam' (2005) with meta references aplenty, albeit with a musical twist to it. While the conflicts in the 2005 film written by Sreenivasan were rock solid, those in Vineeth’s film are far from perfect. Within the first hour, you might often find yourself wondering why the leads are behaving the way they are. One of the leads, with hardly any deliberation, decides to give away his most treasured creation without any credits and later repents that decision to the point of self-destruction, which becomes the bedrock of the conflict between Venu and Murali.
Later, the other lead suddenly turns hostile and rude in a way that’s so out of character. As an audience, it leaves a lot to be desired when the characters’ actions aren’t justifiable with respect to their arcs and established traits. Also, the whole romantic track, featuring Pranav and Kalyani Priyadarshan, hardly contributes any value in the overall scheme of things.
After the former half that felt like an entire film of its own, what follows is a neatly streamlined and emotionally resonant hour—set in recent times—that makes you overlook many of its shortcomings. Now, things have changed drastically from how the cinema industry used to operate decades back, with many actors with industry lineage getting more exposure and finding it easier. It is here we get introduced to the scene-stealer of the film, Nivin Pauly as Nithin Molly. A self-made yet arrogant star on the verge of losing it all after a string of flops. The meta references with respect to Nivin’s own journey as an actor are unmissable. His audaciously loud performance makes for a riot that will leave you uncontrollably in splits, and it’s one of the biggest takeaways from the film.
Among the lead actors, Dhyan Sreenivasan turned out to be a revelation as Venu. From a naive dreamer who finds fame that gets to his head to a grounded veteran dying to prove his mettle once again, he has managed to internalize his portrayal even when the writing is inadequate. Pranav Mohanlal as Murali does have his moments but only sporadically. His knowing or unknowing tendency to ooze his legendary father’s mannerisms and body language doesn’t help much either, even if it has a familiar charm. In the supporting cast, it was Basil Joseph and Aju Varghese who left a lasting impression
At 165 minutes, 'Varshangalkku Shesham' may seem a bit prolonged, yet it remains engaging. If you can overlook the director’s sweetened passages, it serves as an imperfectly yet heartening homage to the world of cinema, which also has music as its motif. Years later, this may or may not age well. But for now, it works as you leave the theatre with a rewarding smile.