''Varavelpu'' () is a 1989 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

film directed by

Sathyan Anthikad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter ...

and written by

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such a ...

, starring

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu language, Telugu, Hindi and ...

, Sreenivasan,

Thilakan Palappurathu Keshavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appeara ...

Murali Murali may refer to: People Mononyms *Murali (Malayalam actor) (1954–2009), name of Malayalam film actor Muraleedharan Pillai, who appeared in ''Neythukaran'' and ''Aadhaaram'' *Murali (Tamil actor) (1964–2010), Tamil actor who appeared ...

, Innocent, and

Jagadish P. V. Jagadish Kumar, Born On (12 June 1955) mononymously as Jagadish, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and television presenter. He has starred in over 400 Malayalam films and two Hindi films. He is best known for his comic and character rol ...

. The film was produced by K. Rajagopal. It depicted trade union problems plaguing

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and the issues created by union members and the dirty politics which is prevalent in present governance and is narrated in a satirical dark comedy The film was based on a real-life incident in Sreenivasan's father's life. The film was an average grosser at box office but later gained a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

status and following. The movie was remade in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as '' Chal Chala Chal''.

Plot

Murali returns to his hometown after spending 7 long years hard working in the gulf to settle down peacefully in his hometown. Much against the greedy wishes of his family members, he decides to buy a second-hand

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

that comes along with a route permit. This is when he faces a lot of hardships. Starting from an accident because of the inefficient driver, a cheating conductor, to a cunning union leader, Murali's life is taken for a toss with ever-growing challenges one after the other. He eventually gets an offer from a labour officer, which he turns down. He says that he has already lost this game, and he prefers to move for a better job. At last, it is shown that he leaves for

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

in order to go back to gulf.

Cast

as Murali *

as Rema *

as a vehicle inspector *

as Prabhakaran *

as Valsan *

as Ramakrishnan * Innocent as Chathukutty * Janardhanan as Kumaran *

Oduvil Unnikrishnan Oduvil Unnikrishnan (13 February 1943 – 27 May 2006) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has portrayed supporting roles in both dramatic and comedic roles.The HindMalayalam film actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan dead He is a four- ...

as Narayanan *

Mamukkoya Mamukkoya (5 July 1946 – 26 April 2023) was an Indian actor known for his work predominately in Malayalam cinema. He mostly appeared in comedic roles. His unique usage of Kozhikode dialect and style marked his presence in the industry. In a c ...

as Hamsa *

Sankaradi Paravoor memana Kanakku Chembakaraman Parameswaran Chandrashekara Menon, better known by his screen name Sankaradi (14 July 1924 – 8 October 2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artist, who had over 70 ...

as Murali's uncle *

K. P. A. C. Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest ...

as Santha *

Meena Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...

as Rukmini *

Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair (16 October 191611 March 1997) was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri fr ...

as Govindan Nair *

Bobby Kottarakkara Abdul Azeez (11 March 1952 – 3 December 2000), Better known by his Stage Name Bobby Kottarakkara was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He was born to Pareedkunju Ravuthar in Kottarakkara. He began his acting career on stage. He ma ...

as Pappan * Krishnan Kutty Nair as Rema's father *Praseetha Menon *Sindhu Varma

Production

The film was based on a real-life incident in

's father's life.

Sathyan Anthikkad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter ...

got the story idea while listening to Sreenivasan when he recalled how his family ended in financial debt as his

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

father was labeled a

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

after he bought a bus.

Soundtrack

Reception

In 2003, the then Indian

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

mentioned the film and Mohanlal in his inaugural speech at the Global Investor Meet held in

. He said: "I am told that there is a Malayalam movie called ''Varavelppu'' in which your famous actor Mohanlal acts as a

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

-returned Keralite. He invests his savings in a small business venture with high hopes. But in the end, he is forced to close it down after going through many unpleasant experiences. Therefore, this conference should serve as an occasion for introspection".

References

External links

* {{Sathyan Anthikad 1989 films 1980s Malayalam-language films 1989 black comedy films Films with screenplays by Sreenivasan Films directed by Sathyan Anthikad Films shot in Ottapalam Films shot in Palakkad Films shot in Thrissur Malayalam films remade in other languages Indian black comedy films Films scored by Johnson Indian business films Malayalam film score composers