Malayalam Movie Review : Varavelppu (1989)

 

Whenever I hear of Varavelppu I think of my Uncle who is an NRI. It is his all-time favourite and I believe he has seen this movie atleast a million times!

Varavelppu (= welcome) is a heart-rending Malayalam movie which saw the genius of three prominent people in Malayalam cinema- Sathyan Anthikadu who directed the movie excellently well, Srinivasan who penned this story and Mohanlal, who put forward one of his most memorable performances ever. Take a look at what this movie is all about.

After seven long years Muralidharan (played by Mohanlal) returns to Kerala, India, his homeland. He is happy since he had been missing home so much. His two brothers and their families are eager to receive him. His sister-in-laws are so adoring that they compete against each other by making special meals and seeing to his every need. Everybody is happy that their dear Murali is home. Or so it seemed.

Murali soon finds out their true colours the hard way. When he throws in the bomb that he would not be going back to Dubai, the family is deeply shocked and annoyed. The fact is, both the brothers have been leading a decent life without any debts only because of Murali. For them Murali is a source of income; all they want is that he continue working for them and supply them with money with everlasting generosity. Murali is quite oblivious to all these and had always thought everyone loved him from their hearts. 

When the two brothers understands that Murali’s decision is final, they approach him separately with ideas of putting his savings to good use (for them, that is). However Murali does not fall for their traps and decide something on his own- to buy a bus.

The brothers are totally exasperated. But they could do nothing about it. Murali thus becomes the proud owner of a bus which he names ‘Gulf Motors’. However everything was not going to be a smooth run.

The rest of the movie is about the various problems Murali faces as a bus owner- the bad condition of the bus, the treacherous employees, the irritating vehicle inspector(played by Srinivasan) and ultimately the wrath of the trade union.

The story goes on to unravel the faces behind the masks of smiling and deeply-concerned friends and relatives. And in another case it also shows a kind and cunning person hiding behind a tough and bold exterior. 

After seeing Varavelppu you would feel how unfair life could be. It makes you realize that the life of a seemingly well-settled 'muthalali' could turn out to be equally harrowing as an ordinary worker. 

I believe that everybody who has seen this movie will always think of it as a classic.

Watch the movie here:

Director: Sathyan Anthikadu
Story: Srinivasan
Actors: Mohanlal, Revathi, Jagadish, Srinivasan, Murali, Janardanan, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Mamukkoya, KPAC Lalitha
Music: Johnson