Varshangallku Shesham Review: Vineeth’s ode to cinema & friendship works wonders, despite the imperfections

Varshangalkku Shesham (Years later) is a story of two friends, Venu (Dhyan Sreenivasan) and Murali (Pranav Mohanlal), from a town in Malabar to Madras in search of opportunity in cinema. Venu is a writer, who is grounded, humble and disciplined. Whereas, Murali is a talented musician, who exactly knows when the audience will clap. But he isn’t humble & disciplined like Venu.

Dhyan Sreenivasan owned his character, and he looked well even in the old. Pranav Mohanlal was also equally good, but his old getup was quite off for me.

The film’s first half is set in the 70s. There are quite a few hat tips to the 70s stars throughout the duration. Be it the Coimbatore guy who recites SIvaji Ganesan dialogues (Sathyaraj) or the guy with unique style (Rajinikanth) or Ilaiyaraaja’s name on the studio board. Later in the second half, the film is set in present times and it becomes hilariously meta with Nithin Molly (Nivin Pauly) character. Every scene with him is a blast.

But the shift from the emotional first half to the comedy second half did not transition well. The two halves feel like two different films. The characters, Venu and Murali, and their friendship which was the core of the first half gets diluted in the second half. However, Vineeth Sreenivasan knows how to deliver emotions and use music right. Amrit Ramnath’s background score and songs becomes the soul of the film. Thats why despite the writing inconsistencies, the film feels wholesome.

Verdict: Vineeth’s ode to cinema & friendship works wonders, despite the imperfections