Name: Athiradi
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: 2026-05-22
Rating: 6.8
Cast: Tovino Thomas, Basil Joseph, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Darshana Rajendran, Zarin Shihab

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Set on a campus, two rivals collide and a third enters to shake up the dynamic. Action, comedy and youthful ambition drive a story of friendship challenged and identities transformed.

Times of India

India Today

Rediff

Pinkvilla

Campus movies have always held a special charm. The vibe, chaos, friendships, celebrations, and youthful energy instantly transport many back to some of the most memorable days of their lives. Athiradi taps beautifully into that nostalgia, blending humour, emotions, music, and mass entertainment into a thoroughly enjoyable fun-filled package.
Set inside an engineering college campus, the film follows Sam, played by Basil Joseph, a typical Gen Z youngster constantly underestimated by everyone around him. His dream is to revive a college fest that was shut down years ago following an unfortunate incident. At first glance, Sam appears directionless, as his father jokingly describes him, “a bus without an engine.” But beneath the carefree attitude lies determination, emotion, and a spark that slowly unfolds through the narrative.
The film strongly connects with an entire generation often labelled as hopeless, lazy, irresponsible, confused, or commitment-phobic by society. As the story progresses, Athiradi gently reminds us that today’s generation may simply be finding life in their own way.
Running parallel is Kuttan, portrayed brilliantly by Tovino Thomas, a retired goon trying to rebuild his life through his first musical performance by forming a local troupe for a temple festival. When Sam’s ambitions and Kuttan’s dreams collide, the film transforms into an entertaining rollercoaster packed with hilarious confrontations, emotional moments, and crowd-pleasing chaos.
Both Tovino Thomas and Basil Joseph deliver highly engaging performances with effortless comic timing and emotional depth. Tovino’s Kuttan will easily become one of his most celebrated comic roles, revealing a completely different shade of the actor. Basil, on the other hand, once again proves why he remains one of the most relatable performers among today’s younger actors.
Adding more fun are appearances by Vineeth Sreenivasan and Shaan Rahman as themselves, creating several laugh-out-loud moments. Jeo Baby too steals scenes as a caricatured police officer, contributing heavily to the film’s situational comedy charm.
Technically too, the film works well. Samuel Henry’s cinematography beautifully captures the vibrant campus atmosphere and festival spirit, while Chamman Chacko’s editing keeps the pace energetic throughout. Vishnu Vijay’s music elevates the celebratory mood of the film, supported effectively by Akhil Damodhar’s art direction and Mashar Hamsa’s costumes.
Director Arun Anirudhan, known for co-writing Minnal Murali, makes an impressive debut filled with confidence and swagger. Written alongside Paulson Skaria, the film may not offer a completely fresh storyline. Campus politics, festivals, gang clashes, and friendship dramas are familiar territory. However, what makes Athiradi work is its energy, humour, emotional connect, and unapologetic entertainment value.
At the same time, the film does have its limitations. Athiradi heavily revolves around male friendships and male emotions, leaving actresses like Zarin Shihab and Riya Shibu with very little to do beyond supporting the heroes. Stronger female characters and more emotional layering could have elevated the film further.
Still, despite its familiar setup, Athiradi turns out to be one of the most enjoyable entertainers in recent times — a colourful, laughter-filled celebration of youth, friendship, dreams, and second chances.

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.

It has taken some time, but actor-director Basil Joseph has finally donned the much-expected new hat of producer with Athiradi. Marking Arun Anirudhan's directorial debut, Athiradi begins as a breezy campus entertainer before gradually embracing a larger mass-movie energy with the arrival of its outsider antagonist.

The film eventually transforms into a clash of egos between its two central characters, a familiar terrain Malayalam cinema has explored memorably through films like Ayyappanum Koshiyum, Driving Licence, Thallumaala, Ponman et al.

Athiradi may not possess the storytelling heft of Ayyappanum Koshiyum or Ponman nor the technical jazziness of Thallumaala, but it remains a colourful, energetic entertainer powered significantly by spirited performances from Basil Joseph and especially Tovino Thomas.
Nearly two-thirds of the first half unfolds in a light and playful fashion, driven by Samkutty's failed attempts to woo Arathy and his more successful efforts to revive the fest.

The film delivers several amusing one-liners during these stretches, while Basil injects the proceedings with an infectious youthful energy. The campus portions are mounted vibrantly, becoming even more visually lively as the festival approaches.

Athiradi truly comes alive the moment the man responsible for the central conflict arrives. With Kuttan's entry, the film suddenly finds its pulse.

As Thotta Kuttan, Tovino Thomas is a blast. Though he enters relatively late, he immediately dominates the screen with sheer presence. Between the character's eccentric look, his obsession with singing, and Tovino effortlessly nailing the Thiruvananthapuram slang, you are instantly drawn to this simmering volcano of a man waiting to erupt.

And when he finally does, the explosion is spectacular.

This is also where Arun Anirudhan's command over the narrative begins to stand out. He already hints at his ability to orchestrate chaos in the opening sequence involving the ill-fated fest, but he sharpens that strength considerably during the sequence that escalates tensions between Samkutty and Kuttan's groups through a neatly constructed domino effect.

The entire stretch is packed with comic flourishes, including the hilarious 'face-off' between two effigies, while the mounting chaos is staged with impressive rhythm. The hospital sequence, which awakens the goonda instincts within Kuttan, allows Tovino to excel through restraint before unleashing full-blown mayhem in the following scene where he storms into Samkutty's college with his gang.The conflict sets up an entertaining second half, drawing clear battle lines between Samkutty the underdog and Kuttan the unstoppable force.

The latter half further builds on that momentum with Vineeth Sreenivasan and Shaan Rahman appearing as fictionalised versions of themselves. While Vineeth is expectedly funny, it is Shaan Rahman who emerges as the surprise package with his comic timing.

The entire stretch set inside Kuttan's house is uproarious, with Tovino, Shaan and Vineeth bouncing off one another brilliantly.

In fact, I almost wished for a separate film entirely about a desperate temple festival organiser kidnapping celebrities just to salvage his prestige and festival reputation. Not that I am complaining when the film eventually shifts back to the college-fest drama.

Unfortunately, this is also where Athiradi begins slipping on the smooth slope it had built for itself. The humour works so effectively for large stretches that the sudden shift towards melodrama feels uneven.

Samkutty's emotional stakes never land with the impact they should because the screenplay appears uncertain about his motivations.


Is he reviving the fest merely to impress Arathy, or is he trying to pull his elder brother (Vishnu Agasthya) out of a guilt-ridden emotional slump?

The latter angle carries stronger emotional weight, but the film never develops it with enough clarity or depth. Although Athiradi includes scenes involving Samkutty's family, the emotional arc lacks the coherence needed to truly resonate. More camaraderie between Samkutty and his brother would have strengthened those portions considerably.

Thankfully, the film continues to pepper even its dramatic stretches with humour, preventing the proceedings from becoming dull. Samkutty's payback mission and his desperate attempts to save the fest contain several entertaining moments, although portions do feel stretched and less sharp than the excellent middle act.

There is also a cameo from a young star who recently headlined a major hit, but the appearance exists largely to provoke whistles and applause rather than contribute meaningfully to the narrative. You keep getting this feeling that the movie is packing a bit too much here than needed.

Still, Arun keeps the third act engaging through cleverly structured payoffs to smaller moments seeded earlier in the screenplay.

Some are genuinely surprising, particularly one involving 'concrete', while others cleverly subvert expectations.

By the time the film arrives at a major payoff involving Vineeth Sreenivasan, however, the payoff there becomes predictable simply because the screenplay has conditioned you to expect that one there. Fortunately, the visually vibrant manner in which the finale is staged ensures you have not much to complain about.

The Performances Etc
A huge contributor to the film's entertaining vibe is Chaman Chakko's stylish editing, whose snappy cuts sync beautifully with the movie's restless energy, especially during scenes requiring escalating chaos.

Samuel Henry's cinematography also captures the vibrancy of campus life and adjoining temple festivities with considerable flair.

As for the performances, Basil Joseph is, borrowing a phrase from the film itself, on full 'patti show' mode, and I mean that as a compliment. It is an intentionally flashy performance, somewhat in the vein of his turn in Maranamass, and he captures Samkutty's restless enthusiasm effectively.

He particularly shines in the scene where he explains his fascination with civil engineering, aided by delightfully quirky sound effects, and later when he finally gathers the courage to confess his feelings to Arathy.

That said, Basil inevitably gets overshadowed once Tovino Thomas fully takes control of the film, and honestly, I do not think Basil would mind that at all.

Comparisons may be drawn between Tovino's performance and Biju Menon's work in Ayyappanum Koshiyum or Fahadh Faasil's turn in Aavesham, which also receives a playful nod here, but Tovino still manages to make Thotta Kuttan entirely his own creation within the defined parameters.

Riya Shibu is likeable in her second film, even if the role does not offer the same spotlight-grabbing opportunities she enjoyed in Sarvam Maya.

I also wished to the film had more space to give Zarin Shihab, who is excellent in her limited screen time as Kuttan's wife.

Shelvin James impresses as Samkutty's best friend Purushan, while Vishnu Agasthya leaves a mark during the emotional breakdown scene with his younger brother. Jeo Baby, meanwhile, enjoys some amusing moments as the local SI caught in the middle of the escalating chaos.

In the end, Athiradi has some unignorable imperfections, but its lively staging, entertaining humour and uninhibited performances from Basil Joseph and Tovino Thomas ensure the film remains a crowd-pleasing ride for most of its runtime.

Athiradi follows the story of Samkutty, an enthusiastic and overzealous college student who falls in love with his classmate. Over time, he gains popularity among his peers and decides to revive a long-banned festival at his college.

Athiradi is a brain-rot action comedy entertainer centered around the ego clash between two men. With Tovino Thomas playing the prime antagonist, the actor manages to capture the audience’s attention more than anyone else.

The movie’s charm lies in its vibrancy and the momentum it maintains throughout the narration. While the screenplay does falter at times, it still provides a sense of entertainment that makes the experience worthwhile.
Although the musical tracks miss the mark, Vishnu Vijay succeeds with the background score. Moreover, the cinematography and editing also help make the movie engaging.
Athiradi is an entertaining and fun watch that does not delve too deeply into details. While some viewers may find its brain-rot elements off-putting, it still remains an engaging experience.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of Pinkvilla. No statement in this article is intended to defame, harm, or malign any individual or entity.

Athiradi -Title Teaser Malayalam | Basil Joseph ,Tovino Thomas, Vineeth Sreenivasan | Arun Anirudhan

Athiradi - Official Trailer | Tovino Thomas | Basil Joseph | Arun Anirudhan | Vishnu Vijay

Athiradi (Tamil) - Official Trailer | Tovino Thomas | Basil Joseph | Arun Anirudhan | Vishnu Vijay

Tovino Thomas is a model and actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films. Having started his career in fashion, he appeared in several TV commercials before making his big screen debut with 2012’s Prabhuvinte Makkal. He won several awards for his work and went on to star in short films and movies like 2 Penkuttikal, Ennu Ninte Moideen, Ezra, Guppy, Aami, Maradona, Theevandi and Oru Kuprasidha Payyan.

Tovino Thomas

Basil Joseph is an Indian film director and actor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He directed three films, Kunjiramayanam, Godha and Minnal Murali. All three films were a huge success both commercially and critically. Besides direction, Basil is also an actor and has acted in numerous films.

Basil Joseph

Vineeth Sreenivasan is an Indian playback singer, actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, creative director and dubbing artist. He predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. He is the son of actor and screenwriter Sreenivasan.

Vineeth Sreenivasan

Darshana Rajendran is an Indian actress in the Malayalam and Tamil film industry. Darshana debuted her acting career in the 2014 Malayalam film John Paul Vaathil Thurakkunnu.

Athiradi

Athiradi(2026)

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