Varshangalkku Shesham

Varshangalkku Shesham is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language coming-of-age comedy drama film,written and directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan. It was produced and distributed by Visakh Subramaniam of Merryland Cinemas. The film stars Dhyan Sreenivasan and Pranav Mohanlal in the lead roles along with Nivin Pauly in an extended cameo. It also stars Kalyani Priyadarshan, Y. G. Mahendran, Shaan Rahman, Neeta Pillai, Aju Varghese, Basil Joseph, Neeraj Madhav, and Vineeth Sreenivasan himself in supporting roles. The film's original songs and background score were composed by debutant Amrit Ramnath.

The film's principal photography took place between October and December 2023, lasting 40 days. It was filmed across 50 locations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Viswajith Odukkathil and Ranjan Abraham handled the cinematography and editing, respectively.

It was released worldwide in theatres on 11 April 2024 to mixed to negative reviews from critics and audiences, alike. The performances of Pranav, Dhyan and Nivin, production design, soundtrack, and cinematography were praised. However, the performance of Kalyani, screenplay, cringe elements, pacing and runtime received criticism. Despite, the film became a major commercial success, grossing over ₹80 crores at the worldwide box-office.

Plot
In the early 1970s, Venu is a high schooler who devotes all of his time to helping out in traveling plays as they stop in his hometown. One night, the producer of a play asks him to bring an instrumentalist, Murali, from the house of the local landlord. Drunk, Murali reluctantly agrees to play for the evening. Venu is thoroughly impressed with the man's spontaneous musicality and they quickly become friends. As time passes, Venu goes to college; Murali shows up there one day, trying to meet the principal to borrow a new book that has reached the college library. Venu offers to help and discovers that the book has already been lent to a first-year student named Annie. Murali, on meeting Annie, instantly falls in love with her. They meet that night to exchange the book and continue seeing each other. Murali asks her out, but is met with shock and rejection. She tells him to leave, also revealing that she is sexually involved with her brother-in-law due to his compulsion.

Murali is shattered by the news and disappears for a while. One day, he writes to Venu that he is leaving for Madras with the intention of making it in cinema; Venu joins him as well. They rent out a room in Kodambakkam where Murali lands a job as a violinist under music director Indhra Dhanush. After playing the violin for a B-movie, Murali meets the producer of the film, Keshavadev. He tells him that his film will flop massively. Embarrassed, he returns to meet him after it rightly fails. Murali introduces him to Venu, who has the script for a prospective film. He is impressed and agrees to produce it. Venu insists that Murali produce the music for it, but he refuses, citing his inexperience. Murali secretly passes on some of his music to Indhra Dhanush, who goes on to compose music for the film. The film, upon release, becomes a huge success, with the song that Murali actually composed becoming a sensation. He is driven mad by the fact that he did not produce the music himself. He meets Indhra Dhanush, asking in vain that he at least tell Venu that it was his music. Venu eventually discovers the original cassette with the words "Murali" on it, containing his film's music. He tries to meet Murali, discovering that he has left Madras. Then Murali goes to Bombay where he works as a music teacher in a school.Fall in love with Bhumi working in the same school. Both Bhumi and Murali eventually fall in love. But at some point both of them get misunderstanding and their love breaks up. But left Bombay after the 1993 Serial Blasts

Over the years, Venu directs many more films and falls out of the cinema industry. He meets Murali again who says that he should return to the film industry. He hesitatingly agrees, and they discover the young director Pradeep. Venu and Pradeep start looking for the crew to work on one of Venu's old scripts, Jeevithagadhakale. They finalise on a cast of mostly new artists except for the eccentric actor, Nithin Molly. At the end of filming, their producer, Jayan, who is Keshavdev's son, falls seriously ill and is unable to continue bankrolling the film. Murali, disappointed, disappears again. They are miraculously saved by paparazzi who film Nithin Molly in an inebriated state, making him popular and creating hype for the film. Jeevithagadhakale releases theatrically to outstanding reactions and reviews.

Venu hires a taxi to a location in Tamil Nadu where they meet Senthil, an old friend from their lodge in Madras. He directs them to Karpagam, a village near Salem, where Murali is living in a Carnatic music sabha. Venu tells him that their first movie as a duo has released, to his delight. They go to a theatre in Coimbatore to see how the audience reacts to their film.

Development
On 13 July 2023, Vineeth Sreenivasan announced his collaboration once again with producer Visakh Subramaniam of Merryland Cinemas, following the success of Hridayam (2022), for their second project together, titled Varshangalkku Shesham. The film also brings back Pranav Mohanlal and Kalyani Priyadarshan from their previous film. Vineeth described that the film will revolve around a bunch of friends.

In an interview, talking about his influences, Vineeth recalled how he listened to his father Sreenivasan's stories about his early life in Madras and also the experiences of his contemporaries in the film industry. During his school days, Vineeth avidly read popular Malayalam film magazines, such as Nana, Vellinakshatram, and Chithrabhumi, which featured articles and interviews with those working in cinema. These stories, along with the imagined picture of Madras they presented, served as inspirations for Varshangalkku Shesham. He also recalled how, during stage shows, actors Mukesh and Innocent would entertain the team with anecdotes from their lives in Madras and their experiences in the cinema world. Vineeth himself being a resident of Chennai (formerly Madras), describes the city as "a place that had always fascinated" him. Varshangalkku Shesham features Madras in the 1970s and 1980s, spanning 50 years from early 1970s, showcasing the evolution of the film industry during this period; the film "attempts to showcase that arc of time, the mood and the style of working".

Vineeth had the story in mind since his college days but lacked confidence to execute it. After Hridayam, he gained confidence to make it into fruition. He began screenwriting in 2022. Vineeth revealed that the story of Varshangalkku Shesham was inspired by two screenplays written by Sreenivasan. Vineeth also integrated some inputs from director Priyadarshan, to whom he shared the screenplay. Priyadarshan narrated an incident that occurred in a film studio, which Vineeth incorporated into the film.

Casting
During the film's announcement, the initial cast included Pranav Mohanlal, Dhyan Sreenivasan, Aju Varghese, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Basil Joseph, Vineeth, Neeraj Madhav, Neeta Pillai, Sai Aadya Bhumi, Arjun Lal, Nikhil Nair, Shaan Rahman, and Nivin Pauly. Further cast members were revealed in the film's teaser, with Y. G. Mahendran, Harikrishnan, Anjali Nair, Darshana Sudarshanan, Deepak Parambol, Bhagath Manuel, Ashwath Lal, Sreeram Ramachandran, Krishnachandran, TSR among others appear in supporting roles.

Vineeth had Pranav, Dhyan, and Nivin in mind during the scripting phase itself. According to Vineeth, the film will not work without the three. About Kalyani's casting, he said: "Everyone suggested Kalyani after listening to the story". Vineeth based Pranav's character after actor Murali, whom he observed during the filming of Champakulam Thachan (1992). He recalls seeing Murali walking towards their hotel from a distance, dressed in a jubba and mundu, with a sling bag on his shoulder, while singing a poem. Vineeth described the characterisation as "a man flowing in the wind". He also named the character after the actor. The film marks the reunion of Pranav and Kalyani with Vineeth after Hridayam. Vineeth collaborates with Nivin after an eight-year hiatus. According to Vineeth, his character drives the story forward once he is introduced, with Vineeth noting that Nivin was in his "best form". Dhyan underwent a weight loss of 12 kilograms to prepare for his role in the film.

Shaan, who previously collaborated with Vineeth as a music director in his earlier projects, made his acting debut with Varshangalkku Shesham. Although Vineeth had previously approached Shaan for a brief role in Thira (2013), he declined it. However, he accepted this offer, influenced by Vineeth's confidence in him. Shaan underwent a makeover, donning an outfit, wig, and mustache for his role. Vineeth had approached director Lokesh Kanagaraj for a role as he wanted a "Tamil-speaking actor with a calm demeanor", but Kanagaraj declined it due to his directorial commitments. Consequently, Kalesh Ramanand, who had previously appeared in Hridayam, was chosen for the role, as suggested by Visakh.

Vineeth reminisced about how several actors in the film juggled shooting dates with multiple filmmakers, unlike in Hridayam, where most of them were early in their careers. He described it as "a wonderful coincidence that we were able to bring them all together for this film".

Filming
Principal photography began on 26 October 2023. The following day, filming was relocated to Aroor. The film's art director, Nimesh Thanur, constructed sets at Aroor, replicating Kodambakkam and film studios of Madras. Additionally, some old studio scenes were shot in Coimbatore and Pollachi. It took two months to build the sets. Vineeth said that director Priyadarshan had provided some important details in the design of Swami's Lodge, one of the major backdrops of the film, when he narrated the screenplay to him.

The first filming schedule was concluded in the fourth week of November after 23 days shooting. Nivin joined the film for the second schedule in Munnar in early December. The entire filming process wrapped up on 20 December 2023. The film was shot over a span of 40 days across more than 50 locations, involving over 200 crew members. Although the film depicts Chennai in the 1970s and 1980s, it was not shot in Chennai.

Post-production
Dubbing for the film commenced in early January 2024 in Chennai. The dubbing process was completed on the same month. It was followed by the final stage of editing in that month. The audio mixing of the film had been completed by March 2024.

Music
Varshangalkku Shesham marks the debut feature film composition work of Amrit Ramnath, son of singer-composer Bombay Jayashri. He was until then composing independent tracks for some years. Ramnath started composing for the film while he was at the hospital where his mother was admitted and composed three tracks during the period. Manu Manjith, Vaisakh Sugunan, Jayashri, and Sreenivasan wrote the lyrics. Think Music released the film's soundtrack album on 7 April 2024 which consisted of 14 songs.

Theatrical
Varshangalkku Shesham was theatrically released worldwide on 11 April 2024 during the Ramadan and Vishu weekend, along with Aavesham and Jai Ganesh. The date was announced through a first-look poster released by director Karan Johar in December 2023.

Distribution
The film was distributed by the production company Merryland Cinemas in Kerala, while Phars Film acquired the distribution rights in overseas territories. Sakthi Film Factory acquired the theatrical rights for film distribution across Tamil Nadu.

Home media
The film starting streaming on SonyLIV from 7 June 2024.

Critical reception
Varshangallku Shesham received mixed reviews from critics as well as audience upon release. Divya Nair of Rediff.com rated 3/5 stars and stated "Vineeth Sreenivasan deserves applause for striving to blend the past with the present and revoking your memories." Writing for the The Times of India, Anna Mathews praised the performances of Nivin Pauly and Basil Joseph. Writing for Hindustan Times, Latha Srinivasan praised the performances of the cast and Vineeth Srinivasan's direction as earnest, but felt the film was lengthy and melodramatic. Cris of The News Minute praised the film as an ode to cinema and friendship. Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express, however, criticised the film's writing and Pranav Mohanlal's acting, yet commended Nivin Pauly's performance.

Box office
The film grossed over ₹80 crore in its theatrical run.