Athiradi review: Basil and Tovino's film is imperfect, but full of heart and humour

Coming-of-age films never really age, and the reason is simple. They are like nostalgic reunion-table conversations. The "remember when" that lights up a room. College, experienced once and carried forever, has a texture that cinema keeps returning to, and for good reason. The first taste of real freedom, the first proper challenge, and if you were part of organising a fest, that is a category of experience entirely its own. Something chaotic, consuming, and once in a lifetime. Athiradi, the debut feature from director Arun Anirudhan, understands this at a cellular level, and despite its share of problems, delivers on that emotional promise.

Unlike most coming-of-age films that begin with fun and nostalgia, Athiradi opens with tragedy. A stampede during BCET College’s famous Arohan fest kills three students, leading to the event being shut down permanently. Years later, Samkutty, played by Basil Joseph, joins the same college with one goal: bringing Arohan back for his elder brother, played by Vishnu Agasthya, who continues to live with the guilt of that incident. That emotional thread holds the film together throughout its chaotic and energetic journey.

Samkutty himself is easy to root for. He is awkward, overprotected and constantly trying too hard to fit in. Basil Joseph plays those traits naturally without turning the character into a caricature. Much of the humour comes from his discomfort, and thankfully the film allows that awkwardness to feel genuine rather than forced. His emotional growth also lands well because the film takes time to build it.

Tovino Thomas appears as Sreekuttan, a reformed local don whose ego slowly turns him into the film’s main obstacle. The character has a strong screen presence, helped heavily by Vishnu Vijay’s excellent background score. Every time Kuttan enters, the film suddenly feels bigger and louder. But the writing around him does not always match that impact.
The film reveals his softer side too early, and once that happens, the threat around the character weakens.

Comparisons with Ranga from Aavesham will naturally come up, but while that character felt unpredictable and lived-in, Kuttan often feels too carefully written. You can sense the film trying to control him instead of simply letting him exist within the story.

Riya Shibu’s Swathi also suffers because of underwritten material. There are small moments between her and Samkutty that genuinely work, especially the quieter scenes. A simple line or gesture is enough to show there was room for a much stronger character here. But the film never fully explores her perspective, and she ends up feeling more like a supporting presence in Samkutty’s journey rather than a complete character on her own.

The second half is where the film becomes the most enjoyable. The portions involving Vineeth Sreenivasan and Shaan Rahman, playing exaggerated versions of themselves, are genuinely funny and surprisingly creative. These sequences bring a different energy altogether and work particularly well in a theatre setting.

The film begins to lose balance slightly post the interval. Too many emotional threads arrive together at once: the tragedy angle, the family drama, the rival gang, the friendships and the personal conflicts. At times, the moments leading to the climax feels overcrowded. Still, the emotional payoff in the end works. Even with its flaws, the film manages to make its important moments land because the relationships at the centre of the story feel honest.

Samuel Henry’s cinematography matches the youthful energy of the film well, especially during the fest portions. Chaman Chakko’s editing also works effectively during the more chaotic stretches. However, a few transitions and intercut sequences involving Basil, Vineeth and Tovino’s characters feel over-stylised without fully landing. You can see the influence of films like Thallumaala and Aavesham in those moments, but Athiradi does not always achieve the same rhythm or sharpness.

What ultimately stays with you is the warmth of the college atmosphere. The fest politics, the struggle for permissions, the gang dynamics, the loud personalities and the small emotional moments all feel familiar in a comforting way. The film clearly comes from people who understand that space well.

Athiradi is messy in parts and stretched in others, but it never feels dishonest. The friendships work, the humour lands more often than not, and the emotional core involving the brothers gives the film its heart. For a story built around reviving something that once brought people together, the film succeeds in doing exactly that inside the theatre.