Varathan was released on 20 September 2018 and became a commercial success at the box office.[2][3][4]
Plot
Abi and Priya are a married couple who return to Kerala from Dubai for a break from their jobs. They decide to live at Priya's childhood home in the hills. From the first day, Priya is suspicious of the intentions of the contractors who work on her family's land. The villagers and neighbours are also shown ogling her. After their wedding anniversary, she spots someone staring at them from the window, but the shadow disappears when she wakes Abi. The next day, she is about to take a bath but spots a man staring at her through the window and screams.
Abi spots a worker in the upper grounds and shuts the window with duct tape and newspaper. Priya constantly warns Abi that people around are not the same as in Bangalore or Dubai and they ought to be more careful. One day, Abi has to meet a designer regarding their startup, and Priya is left alone at home. She promises to go to the convent after Abi leaves. She locks the house and goes to the convent library. She is hit by a jeep with ill-intentioned neighbours, Josey, Johnny, and their right-hand man Jithin. While she lies unconscious, they leave her in the hospital.
After returning home at night, Abi sees the house locked and goes out to search for Priya. He is informed by the estate caretaker, Benny, that Priya has been hospitalized. Abi reaches the hospital, but Priya furiously leaves without saying anything. She walks into the house and starts packing her bags. When questioned by Abi, she reveals that she has been sexually molested. She no longer feels safe living with Abi in the hills or anywhere else. Abi walks out and meets a boy named Preman and his mother. He learns how Preman was caught with the contractor's daughter, Sandra, in the bushes that day.
Preman's mother explains that the contractor's family is now looking to kill him. Abi allows Preman and his mother to go inside his house and locks the door, but he tells the contractor's henchmen that he did not see Preman. Dissatisfied, the contractor's henchmen return with the contractor after noticing Preman's slippers on the verandah. Abi refuses to give up Preman and tells the men that they can find him tomorrow at the police station. None of the people withdraw, upon which Abi walks inside and tries to lock the door. When stopped by Josey and Johnny, Abi slides out a butcher's knife, stabs Johnny's left forearm, kicks Josey away, locks the door, and takes Priya, Preman, and his mother to a safe room.
Abi successfully sets up the house to electrocute the invaders. Some try to get inside the house, but he cleverly burns them with a torch flame using a LPG gas cylinder. After fighting tooth and nail until the morning, Abi is brutally hit on the head and captured by the contractor and Josey. While they aim to shoot him with a gun, Priya walks out with the mother and the son to surrender. When they look towards her, Priya shoots two of the perpetrators. Seeing the opportunity, Abi takes charge, and the contractor flees away. Abi hits Josey, who is the last of Priya's abusers, and informs him that the police will take them. After the chaos, Abi narrates to Josey how the law is still valid and alive in this part of the country. Two weeks later, Abi locks the gate with a plaque saying Trespassers will be shot, where the end credits start to roll.
Besides directing, Amal Neerad co-produced the film with Nazriya Nazim which stars her husband, Fahadh Faasil, alongside Aishwarya Lekshmi. Neerad revealed the film's title on 20 June 2018 by releasing the first poster. Varathan in Malayalam means "outsider" in English.[5][6][7] Writer Suhas describes the film as a "survival thriller".[8] Shot in Dubai and Wagamon, filming was completed by June 2018.[9][10]
Varathan received positive reviews from critics who remarked that the film is an unofficial adaptation of Straw Dogs.[4] The performances of Fahad Faasil, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Sharafudheen received praise while climax and the action sequences received critical acclaim from the audience and the critics alike.
Critical response
Sanjith Sidhardhan of The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Varathan takes its time to simmer in the first half, with its songs and varied characters, but in the second half it comes all guns blazing and turns into a stylish survival thriller worth watching."[12] Sajin Shrijith of Cinema Express wrote "Amal Neerad transplants the story of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (1971) to Kerala with most of the brutality removed but none of the tension. This is one blistering and immensely satisfying revenge thriller."[13] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute wrote that the first half sets up the creeps admirably, while the second half feels like a squandered opportunity.[14]Behindwoods gave 3.25/5 stars and wrote "Varathan is an experience that very few Malayalam films can provide. High-quality making, perfect acting, well-worked screenplay, brilliant background score are not something you see every Friday.".[15]
Box office
On 5 October 2018, the film grossed ₹22 crore worldwide, with ₹18 crore from Kerala alone. It grossed ₹1.06 crore from Bangalore in 12 days and became the highest-grossing Malayalam film of that year in Bangalore.[16]Varathan grossed ₹33 crore worldwide at the end of its theatrical run and became a commercial success.[1]
