Vaarikuzhiyle Kolapaathakam

Varikuzhiyile Kolapathakam might as well be one of the sleeper successes this year. Written and directed by Rejishh Midula, this is his second outing after Lal Bahadur Shastri. So by all means Varikuzhiyile Kolapathakam is a stark deviation from the comedy from his debut.

Fr. Vincent Kombala is a prominent social and religious figure in the remote inland of Arayamthuruth. Himself an ex-policrman, the pastor is the law-enforcer of the island. But when a murderer confesses a murder the pastor happened to witness, he finds his hands tied because of his religious beliefs. 

'Varikuzhiyile Kolapathakam' is not your run-of-the-mill whodunnit. Its story is by far its core strength. A pastor turning sleuth is a hard sell. But Rejishh manages to convince the audience why the pastor has to conduct his own investigation. In it he navigates through a religious and ethical code of morality. Amit Chalackal, playing the protagonist, Vincent Kombala, is mostly convincing barring a few scenes where one is reminded of the terribly dramatised action heroes of Tamil and Telugu films. Nedumudi Venu, Dileesh Pothen, Lena, and Shammi Thilakan are all fantastic in the respective roles they so convincingly enact. Mejo Joseph's music enhances the narrative adding mystery and romance as and when need be.

All in all, Varikuzhiyile Kolapathakam works, except a few glitches. At places the narrative gets tad over dramatic, a slight shift from the otherwise neutral narrative and at times it seems to to drag on.

With an interesting story, and an engaging making, Rejishh Midula has a winner at hand. Varikuzhiyile Kolapathakam keeps to hooked, even when you know who committed the murder and then later even when you know the who and why of the murder. For this dexterity in film-making Rejishh Midula deserves a round of applause.