Veyil follows the story of Siddharth as it traces his journey from his school life exploring his strained relationship with his mother and brother. The story is nuanced and layered and the more it unfolds the more involved you get. The moment the film began it gave me a feeling that this was a coming of age story and I was willing to soak myself in the sea of nostalgia all over again. But, this wasn’t that tale. This was slightly more darker and intense than I had imagined it to be. The screenplay standing at over 150 minutes is a little daunting. And it unfolds at a leisurely pace. At the very beginning, you may find it hard to understand the conversations. But as the film progresses, you get to understand the dynamics of the characters. As they say, life is all about opportunities and grabbing them and the screenplay shows exactly that. At times we also feel hard done in by our own family which does take a toll on you as a person. It is then that people spree on the wrong path which is again what was nicely shown here.

The subtle twists and turns are genuinely bittersweet here and they keep you engaged. The issue in the screenplay was in the second hour where I felt it was slightly uneven. Things began getting repetitive and at times the sequences lacked clarity as well. I felt a few minutes coukd have been edited out especially early on in the second hour thereby ironing out its flaws. But the film gets back on track in the last 30 odd minutes. A terrific confrontation scene between the two brothers remained by favourite from the film. The unexpected dark ending really took me by surprise and that may not cater to everyone. But I thought about it and came to a conclusion that while life gives you second chances, it may not always be as sweet as you expect them to be. So overall, a well written screenplay which was something different from the mainstream stuff.