Varalaru Mukkiyam movie review: a nasty, stale comedy

Jiiva’s charisma and liveliness are what keep the movie from being bearable to watch.

Jiiva is a talented actress with great comedy timing. With movies like Siva Manasula Sakthi, Nanban, and Endrendrum Punnagai, he has often demonstrated this point. However, during the past few years, we have observed that the films have fallen short of his promise. Regrettably, Varalaru Mukkiyam, his most recent offering, is not any better. Actually, Jiiva’s charm and liveliness are what keep the movie from being intolerable.

Santhosh Rajan is the director

Jiiva is once more the stereotypical middle-class child leading a carefree life in Varalaru Mukkiyam. Saranya Ponvannan plays his mother, of course. Additionally, KS Ravikumar plays the father, who continuously chastises his son for being a wastrel. A Malayali family moves into Jiiva’s neighbourhood, and that is the focus of the main plot—if there is one at all. Thanks to the constant assault of stereotypes, you can tell that it is a Malayali family. The patriarch of the Malayali family runs a bakery (luckily not a tea kadai), he only wants a Dubai marumakan, and his daughters always wear pattu pavadais and chandana kuri in every scene, regardless of whether they are in a temple, their home, a college, or a train station. Even in a battle scenario, we can see the fighters donning chandana kuri. Why? Because they are Malayalis and are expected to wear it always, so the makers contend. Varalaru Mukkiyam is stuck in the Malabar Police era, which is not as all a compliment.
Varalaru Mukkiyam’s prose is as cliched and old as it gets. Karthik, the character played by Jiiva, does, however, possess some intriguing characteristics. He is self-centered and doesn’t think twice before getting his loved ones into danger. Jiiva enjoys herself a lot when she plays these kinds of characters. Do you recall Siva from Siva Manasula Sakthi? Both of these characters had many traits, but Rajesh’s film had more natural humour. The writing was actually entertaining, and actors like Santhanam, Anuya Bhagwat, and Urvashi gave excellent supporting performances. Sadly, Jiiva is solely responsible in Varalaru Mukkiyam. In spite of his best efforts, VTV Ganesh, the usual hero’s sidekick, cannot compete with Santhanam. In this case, he is a politician with a strong sex desire. A moaning sound can be heard in the background whenever an adult joke is told. Even a scenario emphasising the necessity of sex education is included. It’s awful to watch filmmakers use such flimsy plot devices to get people to chuckle.

Varalaru Mukkiyam is essentially a rom-com that uses all the clichés associated with the subgenre. The two female leads, Kashmira Pardeshi and Pragya Nagra, play sisters. The hero falls for both of them and choose the “prettier” one. He persistently stalks the girl and manages to win her over, but when someone starts bothering his sister and stalking her, he gets into a fight. When a buddy calls out the hypocrisy, Karthik responds, “Love pannanum da.. intha maathiri annoy panna koodadhu.” Well, it’s crucial to know the difference between “love” and “irritation,” and I really hope the movie’s director did too.

Varalaru Mukkiyam is an unnecessary remembrance of a time when foolish, ludicrous movies were marketed as hip comedies. It is not particularly vital to revisit that period of history as a throwback.