Sumathi Valavu movie review: Arjun Ashokan’s ‘horror comedy’ aims for the sturdiness of Stree, but proves that ambition alone won’t take a film far

Set in the ’90s in the forest-edge village of Kalleli, near the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border, the movie unfolds through the lives of the locals, whose stories are intertwined with the myth surrounding a curved path, Sumathi Valavu, that leads to the locality. Believed to be haunted by the spirit of Sumathi, a woman who was burned alive ages ago by the then-residents of the village in an act of ritual slaughter to gain absolute power, no one traverses that path at night. Fortifying their beliefs, not even a single person has ever crossed that road at night unharmed, and only the lucky few have managed to escape alive. Apparently, the only people who have gotten across safely are Appu (Arjun Ashokan) and his friend and army officer Mahesh’s (Gokul Suresh) elder sister, while he was “helping” her elope with her lover against her family’s wishes. Although all others accepted this story, Mahesh and his family never did, as they believed it was impossible to cross Sumathi Valavu, which instilled in them the suspicion that Appu had done something to her. The enmity between the two families, as well as the myth behind Sumathi Valavu, forms the crux of the story, and new conflicts arise as Appu falls in love with Mahesh’s cousin, Bhama (Malavika Manoj).

Although Sumathi Valavu opens strongly with a scene set in the ’60s, offering a glimpse of the spirit’s power, once it cuts to the era wherein the rest of the story is set, the movie starts losing its balance quickly enough. Not just that Abhilash Pillai’s writing is quite rickety, but Vishnu’s direction is just as ineffectual, leaving the movie tottering almost throughout. Soon after the film settles into the setting where the main story unfolds, it becomes apparent that the intrigue factor is confined to the story and that Abhilash hasn’t managed to ensure an even distribution of the same across the script. What we are, hence, left with is a series of unengaging scenes, with only a few ending up actually hitting the mark. While most of the moments come across as underdeveloped and underwhelming, another shortcoming of Abhilash’s screenplay is that it’s packed with odds and ends, causing the instances that truly needed the spotlight to be buried under this, that, and the other.

For a movie that’s titled Sumathi Valavu, the fact that so much of it is about everything but that significantly detracts from the experience. How would we have felt if the movie Bhargavi Nilayam revolved around everything except Bhargavi Nilayam itself? Yes, that’s exactly what’s wrong with the Arjun Ashokan film. Although the characters do talk about Sumathi and the curve often enough, it mostly feels like Abhilash was just ticking a box. In fact, had the curve not been there or the spirit of Sumathi existed somewhere else, the outcome would’ve been more or less the same. Worse still, even if the myth of Sumathi hadn’t existed in the story at all, not much would have changed. This raises a fair question: was the film’s title simply clickbait?

Watch Sumathi Valavu trailer here:

In fact, Abhilash’s writing is so dull that the cumulative impact of the remaining scenes in the film fails to match that of the chilling pre-interval sequence, which Vishnu has staged and portrayed quite well. The complete absence of horror and comedy in the script has affected Sumathi Valavu significantly, and its case is worsened by the shoddy dialogues. The lack of consistency in characterisation, including in the case of Sumathi, Appu and the local do-gooder Chemban (Sidharth Bharathan), only underscores the weak writing. Although Chemban is portrayed as someone with the most idea about the Sumathi myth, and hence never underestimates it, there’s a moment in the movie where he, along with Appu and others, consumes cannabis and creates a “humorous” ruckus at the curve at midnight. Despite the film establishing early on that Appu is extremely scared of Sumathi, in retrospect, it’s he who we see travelling along the path most frequently at night in the entire movie. Though Mahesh is portrayed to be determined to uncover the truth about his sister, he only takes action when he’s on leave from the army; as if, while on duty, he couldn’t care less about her. Such weak characterisations extend to others too, and when combined with jokes that don’t land and dynamics that feel mostly undercooked, the film struggles under its own weight to be something as sturdy as director Amar Kaushik’s Stree (2018). Instead, it ends up proving that ambition alone won’t take a movie very far.

Unfortunately, Vishnu’s direction never manages to improve the situation. The weakness in the writing is visible in his direction as well. Rather than simply showing events unfold, he never manages to imprint the visuals on the audience’s hearts. From the very beginning, everything feels so unpolished, making one wonder if they’re watching a soap opera. From showing Devanandha (of Malikappuram fame) often for no reason to packing most scenes with all the key characters even though they don’t have much to contribute, Vishnu’s direction is quite unrefined. The visuals of the track “Paandi Para”, which evoke a sense of déjà vu from 2000s album songs, serve as a trailer for Vishu’s weak direction.

Although no actor, including Arjun Ashokan, manages to deliver a performance worth praise, many of them, particularly Sidharth Bharathan and Balu Varghese, do decently well, offering some respite to the audience.

By the way, this was also the third time in two weeks that I witnessed one of the worst performances by a Malayalam actor in recent memory. Making it nearly impossible to decide who delivered the absolute worst, Shravan Mukesh — as the antagonist Bhadran in Sumathi Valavu — finishes close to matching the shoddy performances of Madhav Suresh in Janaki v/s State of Kerala and Sheelu Abraham in Raveendra Nee Evide. To be honest, I really wish we had a Golden Raspberry Awards in Malayalam this year to see who among these three would win. And amidst all this, we are also forced to see here actor Sreejith Ravi, previously held for allegedly flashing kids, working with child actors. It appears that some things, unfortunately, never change in the Malayalam industry, as long as enablers also face the heat along with perpetrators.

While Ranjin Raj’s music impresses at times, none of the songs end up memorable. Ajay Mangad’s art direction and Sujith Mattannur’s costume design also deserve appreciation.

Sumathi Valavu movie cast: Arjun Ashokan, Malavika Manoj, Sidharth Bharathan, Gokul Suresh, Balu Varghese, Saiju Kurup, Sshivada, Devanandha
Sumathi Valavu movie director: Vishnu Sasi Shankar
Sumathi Valavu movie rating: 2 stars