The college gates swing open and Sreekuttan Vellayani walks back into a world of old grudges, louder friendships, and the faint promise of a second shot at everything. Athiradi announces itself as a celebration before it ever bothers to be a story, with Tovino Thomas at the centre of a reunion that wants to feel like a festival.
That festive impulse carries the film through its best stretches, but it also exposes a screenplay that keeps reaching for more than it can hold.
Tovino Thomas carries the film’s momentum like a battering ram
Thomas plays Kuttan with the kind of physical confidence that makes the crowd-pleasing passages work. His presence powers the college-set opening and the reunion setup, giving the film a centre of gravity when the writing wobbles.
There is a natural ease to how he moves between comic beats and the guilt-ridden emotional thread involving Arohan. He makes the thin material feel lived-in, even when the script asks him to sell motivations that never quite land.
Arun Anirudhan’s direction knows its tone but loses its grip
Anirudhan handles ensemble energy with genuine skill, keeping the comedy loose and the atmosphere consistently bright. The opening stretch moves with a confidence that suggests a director who understands what his audience wants from a youth entertainer.
But the screenplay is overstuffed in the middle, stretching set pieces that connect weakly to the emotional arc. The Indian Express called it “weighed down by a hollow narrative, forced Gen-Z stereotypes, a meme-heavy script, ” and that criticism sticks to the film’s second half like glue.
Action comedy that prioritises rhythm over stakes
The action-comedy craft here is built on crowd-pleasing staging rather than character depth. The ensemble passages around Samkutty and Kuttan generate real comic momentum, using familiar college and friendship beats to keep the energy alive.
Scene-level craft leans on tonal brightness and celebratory pacing, with meme-like contemporary references woven into the writing. It works in bursts, especially when the cast is given room to bounce off each other, but the set pieces rarely escalate into anything with genuine tension.
What saves the film from collapsing under its own weight is the consistency of its festive tone. Anirudhan never lets the film turn sour, even when the narrative logic starts to fray at the edges.
Basil Joseph and the ensemble build a festive texture
Basil Joseph delivers major comic support as Samkutty, contributing heavily to the film’s celebratory atmosphere. His timing gives the stretched passages a lift, and his chemistry with Thomas anchors the friendship thread that the plot keeps circling back to.
Vineeth Sreenivasan appears as himself, adding to the self-referential texture that the film leans on for audience goodwill. Riya Shibu supports the romantic and friendship strands within the young-adult setup, while Zarin Shihab adds weight to the family-linked emotional angle.
Each supporting player gets a moment to register, even if the script never gives them enough to build a full character.
Box office hit, critical divide
The numbers tell a story the reviews cannot ignore. Athiradi opened with ₹6.07 crore India net and ₹10.54 crore worldwide, according to The Week and Koimoi, and by the first week it had climbed to ₹32.47 crore India net and ₹62.96 crore worldwide per Koimoi and Sacnilk. The reported ₹30 crore budget was recouped early, and trade coverage marked it a Hit.
Critics remain split. The Times of India called it “one of the most enjoyable entertainers in recent time – a colourful, laughter filled celebration of youth, friendship dreams and second chances, ” while India Today noted it is “messy in parts and stretched in others, but it never feels dishonest.” The average critical rating sits around 3.0, which feels right for a film this uneven.
There is no political controversy here, but the audience divide is clear: those who came for the energy and the ensemble leave happy, while those hoping for tight screenwriting walk out frustrated. The film’s own theme of second chances applies to its structure as much as its characters.
For more like this, browse our Malayalam Drama reviews.
Athiradi is a film that knows exactly what it wants to be, even when it does not know how to get there efficiently. Watch it for Tovino Thomas’s performance and the ensemble chemistry, ideally in a full theatre where the crowd energy masks the stretched middle. The regular format is fine; this is not a film that demands a big screen spectacle.
The messy, meme-heavy script never matches the ambition of its celebration, but Athiradi earns a 2.5 out of 5 for sheer infectious energy that survives its own structural flaws.
For a sharper take on a similar youth-entertainer space, check out Karuppu review.
For another Malayalam film that struggles with narrative coherence, see 29 verdict.
