Varshangalkku Shesham Review - Filled with Feel Good Moments!

Ashwin Ram

Varshangalkku Shesham is a period drama starring Pranav Mohanlal, Dhyan Sreenivasan and Kalyani Priyadarshan in the lead roles. The film is directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan of Hridayam fame.

Premise:
Pranav Mohanlal and Dhyan Sreenivasan are friends with the former having talent in music and the latter wanting to become a director. They come to Madras to achieve something big in the film industry. Their personal and professional life after that forms the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction:
The film takes off in Kerala, how two like-minded people get together. Followed by a quick romance episode between Pranav Mohanlal and Kalyani Priyadarshan. The film takes its own time to move to Madras where the actual storyworld is set. The issue is not about the flow being sluggish till the point, the happenings didn’t really mean anything. With a couple minor alterations, the film could have very well begun in Madras which could have saved a lot of time, plus the presence of Kalyani Priyadarshan’s character did not add any value to the subject. Moving on the core, two major movie-making processes form both the halves. Both have been dealt in a practical manner and peculiar by nature as the events take place at different timelines. The drama is good, diverting the music chance to another person drives the former and how hard it is to handle production these days in the latter. There is good enough detailing in both the chapters like how the filmmaking process happened in the good old days and how senior filmmakers can update themselves with the world now by hiring a trendy associate. At the same time fun is generated and the emotions unfold well too. There is a major issue with the characterization of Pranav Mohanlal, his darker side must have had better focus to have an easier understanding about his life decisions. Many memorable moments like the feel-good first shot rolling, how special a movie release is for the creators. The climax treatment is funky followed by a heartwarming end. There is a value for the coming-of-age stories and this one understands it neatly by packaging the setups and payoffs neatly.

Performances:
Mature performances from Pranav Mohanlal and Dhyan Sreenivasan, the makeup, hairstyle, etc have been meticulously done for both the period setting and for their old age looks. Kalyani Priyadarshan appears for a couple of scenes in a not-so-necessary role. Nivin Pauly in an extended cameo steals the show with his attitude, his on-the-face monologue is damn exciting as it connects with his real life. Many other supporting artists have played meaty characters who help in shaping up the story in respective situations.

Technicalities:
Wonderful music throughout, like Hridayam, the background score began right after the smoking card, and beautifully designed till the closing credits. The songs are earworms, there is so much research about the art and it is incorporated in the story when composing takes place. Delightful camera work by setting different color tones for the timeline transitions. Neat editing except that there could have been some trimming for the establishment portions.

Bottomline

There was lag in the first hour and Pranav Mohanlal’s could have been more straightforward, otherwise a sweet tale on friendship, filmmaking and the love for the art.

Rating - 3/ 5