Avihitham movie review: A smartly written, brilliantly conceived black comedy

One night in Ravaneshwaram, Kasaragod district, the local loafer Prakashan (Ranji Kankol) chances upon two people secretly making out. Though he, hiding at a distance, sees the face of the man and realises that it’s Vinod (Vineeth Chakyar), who works at a flour mill, he is unable to catch the woman’s face owing to the darkness. Since they are spotted in the compound of a house adjacent to Vineeth’s, he assumes that it must be Nirmala (Vrinda Menon), who lives there with her daughter and mother-in-law, while her husband Mukundan (Rakesh Ushar), a carpenter, is away for work with his father and brother.

The next day, Prakashan informs Venu (Unni Raj), the local tailor and go-to person for all, about this. That night, they both go to the same spot, and Venu also witnesses the couple’s encounter. Based on her body measurements, particularly her bust size — something Venu claims he can calculate even from a distance as the local “Van Heusen” — he affirms it’s Nirmala, although he also didn’t see her face. He immediately informs Mukundan’s brother, Murali (Dhanesh Koliyat), about this. In no time, Murali’s father also learns of it, as do a few more members of the locality. One by one, they all “confirm” it’s Nirmala by drawing convenient conclusions based on her gestures and words. Once her husband Mukundan (Rakesh Ushar) is brought into the loop by Murali, their father, Venu, and others, the situation intensifies. Mukundan decides to divorce Nirmala, but wants to expose her before everyone else. For this, the men hatch an “elaborate and foolproof plan.”

Unlike his previous directorial, Padmini (2023), where he ventured into more commercial and unfamiliar territory, Avihitham has Senna returning to familiar ground where he made Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam (2021). The result is a rooted film that never tries to be anything it’s not. Even before we are directly introduced to the characters, Avihitham offers a sneak peek into the snoopy nature of the men in the locality through a smartly staged opening scene in which we only hear their voices in the darkness as they talk about a purported illicit affair involving a woman. As the film progresses, the sharpness of the script, penned by Ambareesh Kalathera and Senna, becomes more evident as the characters’ peeping Tom and sanctimonious natures are cleverly interwoven into the narrative without appearing forced. For instance, during a discussion about various women’s bust sizes, trying to ascertain whether the silhouette they saw belonged to Nirmala, Prakashan asks Venu about his wife’s measurements, which irks the latter. Apparently, it’s acceptable to bad-mouth and spread baseless rumours only if they’re about other women.

Interestingly, Avihitham opens with a striking quote that encapsulates not only the core of the movie but also the mindset of a patriarchal society that determines a woman’s worth based on the dowry she brings and her beauty according to accepted standards: “They weigh us, they measure us, and then they decide our worth.” This ties in well with Venu being a tailor and the one who concludes that it was indeed Nirmala based on the body measurements he calculated from the silhouette, highlighting how easily men can target women, even in the absence of any evidence.

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All the men — from Venu and Prakashan to Mukundan and Murali — are shown to trust each other’s words without asking many questions. The logic is, “Why would he, who is very close to me, lie about such a big thing?” However, from the very beginning, Senna shows how every man in the film — except Vinod, who is unaware of what’s happening and hasn’t realised that his relationship is no longer a secret — builds on the narrative around Nirmala based solely on what gives them voyeuristic pleasures. At one point, we see Nirmala and Vinod having an inaudible, seemingly casual conversation at the flour mill. Here, Prakashan uses his apparent “lip-reading skills” to conclude that they are planning to meet that night. Remarkably, Murali and Venu don’t even question whether Prakashan actually possesses any such skill because, well, “bros before h**s,” right? This is despite all of them knowing full well what a creep Prakashan is.

While director Amal Neerad’s Fahadh Faasil and Aishwarya Lekshmi-starrer Varathan (2018) showed the grey shades of villages, which are often overlooked by romantics who write long ballads detailing their beauty, and how casual predatory stares can eventually turn into assault, the movie drew a clear line differentiating between family and outsiders. Not only was it Priya’s (Aishwarya) husband Abin (Fahadh) who eventually saved her and took revenge on her behalf, but at one point, we also heard her express that her father would have protected her had he been around. In Avihitham, however, Ambareesh and Senna take it a step further by realistically showing how threats often originate within homes.

Although Mukundan and Murali do not assault Nirmala directly, the lengths to which they go to “expose” her — based solely on hearsay — highlight how untrustworthy even the closest of people can be. Also, the brilliant way Senna draws visual parallels between television soap operas — which often glorify women’s emotional suffering and torture — and the film’s narrative deserves praise for its insight.

However, despite learning about their plan, why did the women — particularly Nirmala — eventually forgive the men and take them back into their lives after delivering just a single slap each as punishment? Why do filmmakers allow their female characters to continue living with these deplorable, distrustful, and suspicious partners without granting them liberation once and for all? I will never know.

Although Avihitham won’t leave you rolling on the floor laughing, the best thing about it is that it never attempts to do so. Its jokes are small and sharp, observational and situational. Thanks to Senna and Ambareesh’s clarity on what they were looking for, most of the jokes land effectively. The crispness with which the scenes are written also deserves praise, as the movie never gives a feeling of overstaying its welcome. While the dialogues have an earthy flavour throughout, the speeches in the climax could have benefited from better writing, particularly since this is the part where we get why the film’s tagline is “not just a man’s right.”

Intriguingly, the film even shifts brilliantly and seamlessly into an edge-of-the-seat suspense drama at one point. Yet, Senna ensures that the soul and core of Avihitham are never lost in the process. He masterfully treads that fine line and makes it to the other side safely. The performances of all the actors, particularly Unniraj, Renji Kankol, and Vrinda Menon, deserve special appreciation for their outstanding work. Sreeraj Raveendran and Ramesh Mathews’ cinematography and Sreerag Saji’s music also merits praise.

Avihitham movie cast: Unni Raj, Ranji Kankol, Vineeth Chakyar, Vrinda Menon, Dhanesh Koliyat, Rakesh Ushar
Avihitham movie director: Senna Hegde
Avihitham movie rating: 4 stars