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{mosimage}I always love Satyan Anthikaud's movies as they are like a leaf out of life, not exaggerated or dramatised. More than any of his movies "Veendum.." holds a special place for me because it cemented my love for Malayalam movies. I was just out of the Engg. College when this was released. I wrote to Ullas Babu enquiring about the girl in the movie who was stunning and talented. She was Samyukta Varma - the demi Goddess of Malayalam movies and the last leg of the female superstar torch which extinguished with her marriage. I got a chance to see it on Asianet after an year of its theatrical release and by that time I had become conversant with the malayalam movies.

"Veendum Chila..." set in the rich Changanassery Christian mileu is about the deep bond between the father and son, and how the entry of a girl turns the life topsy turvy. Father & Son respectively Thomacchayan (Thilakan) and Royicchayan (Jayaram) are more like friends with Roy, leading a carefree life and is indulged in fine arts aided by his father. Enter Bhavana (Samyukta Varma), a Mannadi (lower caste) girl as a drama artist and Royi falls for her. Roy's luxurious life comes to an end when Thomacchayan throws him out of the house after he marries Bhavana, contrast to Roy's expectations and how he manages to come up in this big bad world forms the rest of the story.

{mosimage}It is a wonderful effort by AK Lohitadas & Satyan Anthikaud with a flair for realistic drama. The movie brings the life in a affluent Changanasherry "Icchayan" family before your eyes. The movie crawls at a snails pace but the sequences give ample time to establish the father-son bonding without grating the nerves. It was a dream debut for Samyukta Varma, as a replacement to the role originally written for Manju Warrier. Even though she enters at a late (after 40 minutes without any gimmicks), she takes over then despite the lesser footage she had got.

{mosimage}This is a Thilakan & Samyukta Varma's movie on the whole. As a self built businessman and a fond father, Thilakan gets more footage and a role with depth and shades, completely overshadows everybody in the movie. The scenes where he covers up his eccentricities and conceals his affection for the son are mindblowing. Equally impressive is the performance by KPAC Lalitha, as his wife. She has portrayed the role of mother getting torn between husband and son, responsibilities and love effectively. Another role that came across beautifully was played by Sreejaya as Jayaram's sister. This girl was pretty in the short & sweet role.

It would be uncharitable if Jayaram's performance was not mentioned about. This actor is running short of luck than the "M"s of the malayalam film industry, even though he was a part of majority of Sathyan Anthikaud & Sibi Malayil's films, he couldn't make it in the super star league. In "Veendum Chila.." as an irresponsible son maturing into a responsible human, he marks the journey beautifully.

{mosimage}The music by Johnson had just three songs and the pick of it was undoubtedly "Pinnilavin Poovidarnnu.." which comes as a drama song and also serves as the situation that brings Jayaram & Samyukta Varma closer. As all Sathyan Anthikaud's movies, this movie's climax also was brief and effective, even though pretty predictable. The lush greeneries of Kerala and soothing camera work by Vipin Mohan was applaudable.

"Veendum Chila..." was rememberable in manyways. It was one of the last scripts by Lohitadas as scriptwriter, this movie gave malayalam cinema a breezy talent named "Samyukta Varma". The movie would have been better if it was edited still more in the first half, but nothing takes away the credit from it.