Director Nishad M A's Vairam is a shocking story where a distraught father kills a man, who raped his teenage daughter to death. It is pretty straightforward in its intention and the honesty with which it has been told, makes it an interesting watch. Yet, what lets you down at times in the process is its formulaic pattern, silly and often unwanted gags even during pressure situations and some avoidable scenes cooked up just for an effect.

Sivarajan (Pasupathy) is a Bank manager now posted at Thodupuzha. He is a Tamilian while his wife is Devi, a Malayali (Meera Vasudev) and the couple is ready to give even their lives for their only kid, a beautiful teenager named Vairamani (Dhanya Mary). The family lives in a rented house belonging to the highly affluent Thalikkulam Avarachan (Thilakan).

Sometime later, Sivarajan and Devi are shattered when Vairamani fails to return home after going for exams at her school. The next day, she is found dead in an abandoned well, with bruises in her body. A devastated Sivarajan returns to his native place but soon learns that his darling daughter was brutally raped by Thalikkulam Avarachan's son Josootty (Jayasurya) and that she died soon after.

Now Sivarajan comes back to Thodupuzha in search of the culprit. The whole story is brought out by an investigative journalist Annie Jacob (Samvrutha Sunil), lawyer Ravi Varma (Suresh Gopi) and DYSP Thomas Erali (Mukesh).

It's a disturbing tale for sure, but a matured and well written script by Cherian Kalpakavady has made Vairam, a genuine film. It's a gripping tale that starts in shaky way with some clich?d scenes, but moves ahead in the right way, after a while.

Two thumbs up for Pasupathi, for a stellar performance as a doting father, who virtually loses the interest to live after his daughter's tragic death. Jayasurya comes up with a surprising change from his goody-goody image and plays a menacing villain, though his accent goes out-of-place at times. Suresh Gopi, Mukesh, Thilakan, KPAC Lalitha, Meera Vasudev and Samvrutha Sunil have well-written characters and they have performed quite well.

There are flaws, like the silly romance between Suresh Gopi and Samvrutha which mostly happen at the wrong times during the narration. And not to forget the scene where KPAC Lalitha is seen thinking about what's happening around, even while she is praying before lighted candles, which have been shown several times in the past that too with the same actor in it.

Sanjeev Sankar's visuals and M.Jayachandran's music add to the effect. Samjith's editing gives the right pace for the movie. Nishad has handled this highly challenging subject in a competent way.

Vairam may not be a great film, but is certainly an honourable one, especially considering the genuine theme that it is narrating. The film has its moments and the sincerity that has gone into its making needs to be appreciated. In short, it's genuinely worth a watch!

Verdict: Good