Mariyam Vannu Vilakkoothi

Story: Unni and his friends from work are staying as paying guests at Mariyamma's home. All hell breaks loose when they decide to smoke up one night.

Review: A genre largely unexplored, Mariyam Vannu Vilakkoothi is possibly only the second full length stoner movie in Malayalam since Kili Poyi. Written and directed by debutant Jenith Kachapilly, the film is a breezy entertainer replete of nonsensical stoner comedy.


Unni, a naive, teetotaler of orthodox upbringing, lives with his colleagues as Mariyamma's paying guests. And the ageing matriarch, Mariayamma is stiff as a poker with her tenants. When Rony, a troublemaker incarnate, brings himself into this mix, all hell breaks loose.


Shabareesh Varma is the shining bright spot in the entire cinema. He brings in humour like none other. Following him is Althaf Salim who gets a chic character arc in the second half which he masters, no doubt. Sethulakshmi Amma, Krishna Shankar, Siju Wilson are all doing their usual best.


The sepia tone and the vintage floral wallpapers add to the aesthetics making the entire film looks like one long Instagram story. The styling department kept outdoing themselves in each scene. Most of the frames look like they were picked out of the glossy pages of an interior designer magazine. Distracting much! The story of Mariyam Vannu Vilakkoothi is narrated to the audience right as the start, as the first set of credits roll. So basically, you are henceforth watching a movie knowing full well what's happening, why and how.

For a debut, Mariyam Vannu Vilakkoothi has its moments. It is a clean, nonsensical comedy fare. However, it's a short story that got stretched out into feature length with ornate graphics and a state-of-the-art stylist. In parts it is entertaining and in others one wishes it moved faster. However, the films highest achievement (pun intended) is that it makes clean comedy out of smoking up and getting high. It's the kind of story everyone's friend's random friend has experienced at some point in time. And extra brownie points for the amusingly tingling title, Mariyam Vannu Vilakkoothi!