Virunnu

Virunnu (transl. Feast) is a 2024 Indian Malayalam action drama film directed by Kannan Thamarakkulam and written by Dinesh Pallath. The film stars Arjun Sarja and Nikki Galrani in lead roles,^[1] with Mukesh, Sona Nair, Aju Varghese, Baiju Santhosh, Hareesh Peradi, Dharmajan Bolgatty, and Gireesh Neyyar portraying supporting roles.

Virunnu
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kannan Thamarakkulam
Written by	Dinesh Pallath
Produced by	Gireesh Neyyar
Starring	Arjun Sarja Nikki Galrani
Cinematography	Ravi Chandran Pradeep Nair
Edited by	V. T. Sreejith
Music by	Songs: Ratheesh Vega Saanand George Grace Score: Ronnie Raphael
Production company	Neyyar Films
Release date	29 August 2024 (2024-08-29)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

The film features both Malayalam and Tamil dialogues. The Tamil version was titled Virundhu.^[2][3][4] The portions of the film shot in Malayalam including scenes of Arjun Sarja which were reshot in Tamil for Virundhu.

Plot

The movie opens with the mysterious death of a businessman named John Kalathil. As the investigation into John's death unfolds, his wife Elizabeth also meets a tragic end in a car accident. In her final moments, Elizabeth sees Hemanth and implores him to meet a man named Balan. What follows is a mishmash of events as Hemanth embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind the deaths of John and Elizabeth.

Cast

• Arjun Sarja as Deva Narayanan
• Nikki Galrani as Perly
• Mukesh as John Abraham, Perly's father
• Sona Nair as Elizabeth
• Aju Varghese as Praveen
• Baiju Santhosh as Balan Uncle
• Hareesh Peradi as David Kalathil, Perly's grandfather
• Dharmajan Bolgatty as Murali
• Kochu Preman as Manoharan
• Gireesh Neyyar as Rajan
• Ajai Vasudev as Ponnan
• Sudheer Sukumaran as Binto

Production

In April 2021, it was reported that Arjun Sarja would play the lead role in the film.^[5] The principal photography commenced on 3 May 2021,^[6] but was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[7][8][9] Filming resumed on 19 July 2021,^{[10][11][12][13]} and the second schedule began on 21 January 2022.^{[14][15][16][17]} The film was shot in Peermade, Thiruvananthapuram, Erattupetta and Thodupuzha.^[18][19][20] The cinematography was by Ravi Chandran and Pradeep Nair. The editing was handled by VT Sreejith.^[21]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack consists of the songs composed by Ratheesh Vega and Saanand George Grace,^[22][23] while the background score was by Ronnie Raphael.

Track listing - Malayalam

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Kalyanapattu"	B. K. Harinarayanan	Ratheesh Vegha	Vineeth Sreenivasan	3:41
2.	"Nila Nilavithal"	Rafeeq Ahamed	Ratheesh Vegha	Gouri Lakshmi	4:17
3.	"Sakka Podu Podu"	Mohan Rajan	Saanand George Grace	Jagatheesh	2:30
Total length:					10:28

Track listing - Tamil

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Kottu Kottu Getti Melam"	B. K. Harinarayanan	Ratheesh Vegha	Rahul Nambiar, Anjali Warrier	3:43
2.	"Kana Kana Vizhiyoram"	Mohan Rajan	Ratheesh Vegha	Sharanya Srinivas	4:17
3.	"Kottu Kottu Getti Melam (Male version)"	B. K. Harinarayanan	Ratheesh Vegha	Rahul Nambiar	3:43
4.	"Sakka Podu Podu"	Mohan Rajan	Saanand George Grace	Jagatheesh	2:30
Total length:					14:13

Release

The film was originally scheduled for release on 23 August 2024,^[24][25][26] but was delayed. It subsequently released theatrically on 29 August 2024.^[27] It was released in OTT via Simplysouth (Tamil version) and Amazon Prime (Malayalam version).

Reception

Virunnu received generally negative reviews by critics. Abishek Balaji of Cinema Express rated the film two out of five stars and wrote that "Arjun has a solid screen presence, and there are some gripping scenes. But the overdose of background music and quick cutaways gets exhausting".^[28] Harshini SV of The Times of India rated the film one-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that "Unlike the usual pattern in Tamil cinema, Virundhu offers multiple twists and a cleverly designed climax, keeping you hooked throughout the second half. The actual surprises, including the story of a cult group, catch you off-guard. Their motives and routines are also interestingly captured and it’s here you get a glimpse of what the film could’ve been with a better-written screenplay".^[29]