Varavelpu (1989)

It's not at all surprising, but very frustrating, to watch this movie more than 30 years after it was released and realise that few things have changed about the perils of opening and sustaining a small business in India.

Revathi was easily my favourite part of this movie- even though she had a small role, she stood her ground against Mohanlal, who delivers an almost perfect performance of a Gulf-returnee whose initial enthusiasm and optimism about having his own business in his hometown slowly turns into a chaos of despair and anger when he finds out how selfish everyone around him is. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the core plot of the movie- I might have some issues with its labour politics, but I don't think I should comment on it, since I am in no way well-versed with the trade union history of Kerala. This also explains why I didn't find the movie as "cult comedy/satire" as I was expecting it to; probably because I am not aware of all the intricacies and nuances.

Why didn't I just watch Raatri for my Revathi fix? Sigh. 

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