A motivational tale that explores the self and the struggles of the mind, ‘Avarude Raavukal’ is a story of three youth and their mentor of sorts who is a lonely old man. It has dreams and aspirations. It has the obstacles that the trio face to find themselves and take on life with vigour. While one lacks self confidence, another lacks a goal.  The tone of the inspirational tale, though not preachy mixes a narrative style that is tedious. The story goes back and forth intermittently and that too of three individual lives. This makes the movie distracting. The intention of the movie however is commendable.

Shanil Muhammed whose previous directorial was ‘Philips and the Monkey Pen’ along with Rojin, takes a leaf or two out of that movie to bring about the motivational tone. However the endearing feel of that movie is missing in the tale of the three youngsters. In ‘Avardude Raavukal’ we have three youngsters sharing room at Kochi. All three are from different backgrounds and have personalities as diverse as their backgrounds. Ashiq (Asif Ali) harbours dreams of being a film star but lacks the self confidence. Vijay (Vinay Forrt) has incidents in his life that he has to come to terms with. Siddarth (Unni Mukundan) is a drifter and a flirt who is in need of a direction in life.

Then there is Scobo Jones (Nedumudi Venu) an old man whose presence (and absence) in their life makes a world of difference. He turns out to be their proverbial beacon with his mysterious ways and wealth of wisdom.  The movie looks at how they overcome their issues and emerge out from their problems to become successful. The movie goes back and forth from their past to the present and weaves a complex tale. The script is not well knitted. The problem with the script is that the issues of the youngsters are not heavy enough to warrant their redressal. Vijay’s problem is a saving grace. Ashiq’s and Siddarth’s issues have not been well executed.

Vinay Forrt comes up with a controlled performance and he goes though pain, love and healing in a subdued manner. Vijay is a trainer and one can feel resonances of the ‘Premam’ sir. Asif Ali is good as the aspiring actor who regains his self esteem. He handles all the phases of his character well. Unni Mukundan is also good in his role, and for once he plays a bad boy. His look suits the character. But there are mismatches in places as he makes the transition. Nedumudi Venu is as usual a precence to reckon with. Mukesh, Lena, Honey Rose and others too look good.

Shanil has done a decent job with ‘Avarude Raavukal’, though the narrative style and script could have been improved upon. There are areas that toss out reason like Shivani (Honey Rose), a bossy woman falling for the subordinate Siddarth in so less a time.  The Fort Kochi, Munnar locales look good on screen and some of the frames are picturesque. Edits are fine and music gels in well.

‘Avarude Raavukal’ sure is a family movie from which youngsters can take some tidbits. Inspite of the poor screenplay and mixed narrative style, the movie is a watchable entertainer.