Aval Varuvala

“Aval Varuvala” (1998) is a fun romantic thriller film, directed by Raj Kapoor. It features Ajith Kumar and Simran in lead roles. It is a copycat of the widely praised Telugu movie “Pelli” from 1997. The film follows the story of Divya, who continuously shuns Jeeva’s advances due to her troubling past with her psychotic husband, a fact she later reveals to him. Just when Divya has made up her mind to marry Jeeva, her long-absent husband returns, posing a danger to their happiness.

Jeeva runs away from home to escape an arranged marriage in Madurai, where he lives with his grandmother Lakshmi, and hopes to marry the girl of his dreams after seeing her for the first time. He relocates to Chennai for a job as a bank manager, and promptly falls in love with Divya after spotting her at a mall. He tracks her down to an interplanetary colony of stand-up comics, where he poses as a potential homebuyer to smoke out the trailblazer without exposing her scooter cover. Once he learns that Divya and her mother, Janaki, live there, he decides to stay in the colony.

Falling in love with Divya, Jeeva courts her, but she rejects marriage, though Janaki drops hints that she should marry him. Instead, she finds herself haunted by the memories of her abusive ex-husband, Prithvi, who seemingly died during an act of horrific violence. Though Jeeva charms to continue to win her over, it’s not until the comedians’ support that she finally starts to fall for Jeeva, thanks to the comedians. Prithvi comes back, blackmailing Divya by disclosing all of her dark past if he is not provided with money. In one final attempt to save her daughter’s future, Janaki poisons herself and Prithvi, allowing her daughter Divya to live a happy life with him.

“Aval Varuvala” is a terrific, moody romantic thriller fusing pain, deception, revenge and love culminating in a climax stormy with emotion and suspense with memorable performances. The story does a fantastic job of ratcheting up the tension with an appropriate mix of jocular moments and fatalistic circling of the drain. Comedy and music offer a nice break and a little breather, without ever breaking the flow.