Denny Jacob

Jofins directorial debut borrows heavily from Hollywood movies, including Sixth Sense (you could see the interval plot twist two miles away). The rest of the movie is a quagmire of a wafer thin plot held together by a downright silly storyline.

The primary achievement of Varane Avashyamund is allaying the fear that family movies with a healthy dash of humour have lost their footing in an industry that caters to an ever clamorous audience with a healthy appetite for avant garde cinema. The stand out element however, are the stellar performances of Shobana, KPAC Lalitha, Urvashi and Suresh Gopi, all yesteryear stalwarts who have donned non-formulaic roles with confident flair and panache and makes the audience cheer them on. The direction and editing may need a bit of polishing around the edges but the director has brought the “Sathyan Anthikad” school of film making back into the mainstream, added much needed contemporary elements to the mix and has presented an "aviyal" that is reminiscent of the 80s and 90s but is undoubtedly catered for the 2020s.