Athiradi Review: The loud cheers during the festival sequences, the flashy lighting, the hostel-room shouting matches, Athiradi constantly looks and sounds like a proper crowd-pleasing campus entertainer. Arun Anirudhan packs the film with every familiar ingredient imaginable, student politics, bromance, humour, action, emotional breakdowns and even self-aware celebrity cameos. And honestly, there are moments where all that madness genuinely works. Basil Joseph carries the film with terrific comic timing and surprising emotional control, while Tovino Thomas injects enormous personality into Sreekuttan through sheer swagger and attitude.
Their chemistry keeps several uneven scenes alive. Still, the deeper the film moves into its second half, the more its tonal confusion becomes impossible to ignore. Big emotional setups lead to underwhelming payoffs, comedy suddenly interrupts sentiment, and dramatic confrontations never hit with the force they promise. Even so, scattered entertaining moments prevent the film from becoming entirely forgettable.
The story begins with an incident from the past before shifting into the life of Samkutty, played by Basil Joseph. He joins an engineering college where a long-stalled students’ fest becomes the centre of attention. Along with his friends, Samkutty attempts to revive the event, and the film follows the conflicts, misunderstandings and emotional turns surrounding that effort. The initial portions effectively establish the campus atmosphere. I actually enjoyed how naturally the movie slipped into hostel banter, student politics and festival preparations. There is a certain nostalgic charm in these scenes, and the humour lands reasonably well during the early stretch.
Basil Joseph turns out to be one of the strongest pillars of the film. Ever since the first-look poster was released, his appearance had generated curiosity, and thankfully his performance matches that energy. Samkutty is written as someone who holds a glorified opinion about himself, and Basil performs that attitude with excellent comic timing. Even when the film becomes loud, he keeps the character grounded enough to remain likable. What impressed me more was how neatly he handled the emotional beats. The vulnerable portions do not feel artificial because Basil knows exactly when to reduce the exaggeration and let the emotions breathe naturally.
Tovino Thomas appears as Sreekuttan, and honestly, he steals several scenes through sheer screen presence. The Thiruvananthapuram slang adds flavour to the character, and this role feels refreshingly different from many of his earlier performances. Whether it is comedy, frustration, stubbornness or bursts of anger, Tovino delivers everything with conviction. I particularly liked how he balanced intensity with humour. Even when the writing becomes uneven, he keeps the scenes alive through performance alone. Some of the funniest moments in the film arrive from his interactions with the others.
One of the film’s entertaining aspects is the appearance of Vineeth Sreenivasan and Shaan Rahman as themselves. Their involvement leads to several absurd situations that genuinely made me laugh. The combination scenes featuring Tovino, Vineeth and Shaan carry an enjoyable self-aware humour, and these portions maintain the film’s playful tone effectively. Shelvin James, who plays Samkutty’s close friend, also contributes strongly to the humour. His chemistry with Basil works smoothly throughout the movie and gives several scenes a believable friendship dynamic.
Riya Shibu plays one of the important female characters, but I felt her performance remained too familiar. Much of it reminded me of the energy she carried in Sulaikha Manzil, and at times it felt more like Riya herself than a fully developed character. Serin Shihab also gets a role that initially appears strong on paper, but the emotional depth never truly comes alive in performance. On the other hand, Vishnu Agasthya leaves a solid impact despite limited screen time. As Samkutty’s elder brother, he carries some of the film’s emotional weight surprisingly well. His scenes add sincerity to a movie that often gets distracted by comedy and chaos.
The supporting cast is filled with recognisable names. Jeo Baby appears as a police officer and performs effectively in his brief role. Veteran cinematographer P. Sukumar, along with Nithin Parameshwar, Santhivila Dinesh and Dineshwar, appear in supporting parts. The film also includes personalities known through social media, though most of them are not given enough material to stand out meaningfully.
Technically, the film looks polished. Samuel Henra’s cinematography captures the college festival atmosphere beautifully. The visuals and colour grading were among my favourite aspects of the movie because they consistently maintained a vibrant youthful texture. The festival sequences especially feel alive with lights, crowd movement and energetic staging. Vishnu Vijay composes the music, and while the songs and background score capture the campus vibe decently, I never felt the music elevated major emotional or dramatic moments significantly. It remains serviceable throughout. Chaman Chacko’s editing works better during the action sequences, where the cuts create decent energy.
My biggest issue with the film starts in the second half. The first half creates expectations that the narrative will eventually explode into something bigger and emotionally satisfying. Unfortunately, the central conflict never feels substantial enough. The screenplay repeatedly hints at larger consequences and dramatic confrontations, but the payoff remains underwhelming. I kept waiting for a genuinely memorable stretch where the characters overcome meaningful challenges, yet most situations resolve at a merely average level.
The film also becomes predictable in how it uses certain references and setups. A recurring song associated with Kuttan is repeatedly highlighted before being used during a supposedly major emotional moment. Instead of feeling powerful, the scene comes across as overly constructed for comedy. When the film suddenly tries to inject emotion into that same sequence, the tonal imbalance becomes awkward. I genuinely found myself wondering, “what happened here?” because the scene seemed confused about whether it wanted laughter, sentiment or parody.
There are also long stretches where the narrative feels stagnant. Right from the beginning, the audience gets a fair idea about what the programme is and what complications may arise later. Because of this, the second half desperately needed exciting twists or emotionally rewarding developments, but very few arrive. At times, the film even feels like it is attempting a spoof-like exaggeration similar to Ayyappanum Koshiyum, though not always successfully.
Still, I cannot deny that the film has scattered moments of genuine entertainment. Some comedy exchanges work very well, a few emotional portions connect effectively, and the climax does improve the momentum slightly. By the final stretch, the confusion, challenges and emotions become more engaging. However, even there, the editing during the “Ammaputhappu” song sequence felt messy and confusing to me. I was also disappointed with how casually Tovino’s character arc gets wrapped up near the end. After investing so much energy into the role, the conclusion deserved stronger writing.
What ultimately defines “Athiradi” for me is inconsistency. It repeatedly gives entertaining moments, then suddenly loses momentum, then regains it again. The film clearly wants to deliver a complete theatrical package filled with action, comedy, campus nostalgia and emotional drama. Unfortunately, the screenplay never blends these elements smoothly enough to create a consistently satisfying experience.
Even so, I cannot say I disliked the film entirely. Some portions genuinely entertained me, several performances stood out strongly, and the campus ambience may work particularly well for viewers who enjoy youthful festival-based comedies. But in many places, the movie feels content with surface-level entertainment instead of offering something truly memorable or emotionally powerful.
In the end, “Athiradi” remains an okay one-time theatrical watch that survives mainly because of Basil Joseph, Tovino Thomas and a handful of genuinely fun moments.
Rating: 2.75/5
