Valathu Vashathe Kallan

Valathu Vashathe Kallan
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jeethu Joseph
Written by	Dinu Thomas Eelan
Produced by	Shaji Nadesan
Starring	Biju Menon Joju George
Cinematography	Satheesh Kurup
Edited by	V. S. Vinayak
Music by	Vishnu Shyam
Production companies	August Cinema Bedtime Stories Cineholis
Distributed by	Goodwill Entertainments
Release date	30 January 2026 (2026-01-30)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Valathu Vashathe Kallan (transl. The thief on the right) is a 2026 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film directed by Jeethu Joseph, written by Dinu Thomas Eelan, and produced by Shaji Nadesan. The film stars Biju Menon and Joju George.

Valathu Vashathe Kallan was released on 30 January 2026 and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Inspector Antony Xavier, a police officer, attends counseling sessions to address his strained relationship with his son, Philip.

Antony dismisses a complaint filed by a student who accuses her classmate, Rajeev, of attempted sexual assault, citing Rajeev's influential family and the complainant's prior relationship with him. The complaint is subsequently withdrawn by the girl's mother. Shortly thereafter, the girl dies by suicide.

Her friend, Irene, begins an independent investigation into the incident, but she later goes missing and is found murdered.

CCTV footage places Antony in conversation with Irene shortly before her death, leading to him becoming a person of interest. A new officer, Firoz, is assigned to the investigation, during which Antony's past professional decisions come under scrutiny.

Irene's father, Sam, kidnaps Philip and Rajeev before surrendering to the police. Before dying by suicide, Sam leaves behind evidence exposing Antony's history of protecting perpetrators under political pressure, including in a past case involving Sam's own family.

Antony eventually uncovers that on the night of her death, Irene confronted Philip and Rajeev regarding their use of narcotics. In the ensuing altercation, Philip killed Irene. It is revealed that Sam and his wife, Theresa, orchestrated the kidnapping to force Antony to confront his son's culpability and his own history of enabling systemic injustice.

In the final sequence, Antony locates Philip in a church graveyard. Faced with the reality of his son's actions and his own professional failures, Antony chooses to abandon the search, leaving Philip to face his fate.

Cast

• Biju Menon as CI Antony Xavier
• Joju George as Samuel Joseph
• Lena as Theresa Joseph
• Leona Lishoy as ASI Vidhya Shekhar
• Vyshnavi Raj as Irene Samuel
• Niranjana Anoop as Veena
• Shaju Sreedhar as DySP Firose
• Irshad as Head Constable Johnny Vincent
• Manoj K. U. as SP B. Krishnakumar IPS
• Shyamaprasad as Psychiatrist
• Santhi Mayadevi as Forensic Surgeon Seetha
• Rinosh George as Rajeev
• K. R. Gokul as Phillip Antony
• Shiva Hariharan as Johnny's son
• Remya Suresh as Ex-Aluva MLA Indira
• Abhiram Radhakrishnan as SI Devan
• Arfaz Ayub as Emmanuel
• Shraddha Gokul as Deepthi
• Priya Sreejith as Revathi
• Krishna Prabha as SI Sandhya
• Jolly Chirayath as Sreedevi
• Adam Ayub as Dr. Radhakrishnan

Production

The project was officially announced on 21 April 2025 by Jeethu Joseph. Principal photography began in May 2025 in Kochi with a pooja ceremony. Filming wrapped on 11 August 2025.

Release

Valathu Vashathe Kallan was released on 30 January 2026.

Streaming rights

The Streaming rights of this movie were later acquired by both OTT platforms Amazon Prime Video, ManoramaMAX, Simply South, AP International South Cinema and Lionsgate Play on 27 March 2026 and Aha on 30 April 2026 for its Tamil version and 8 May 2026 for its Telugu version.

Reception

A mixed review in The Hindu wrote: "Part of the film works because of the presence of the two towering performers in Biju Menon and Joju George, who, even when they are not at their best, lend some gravitas to the proceedings. Although Jeethu’s films are not particularly known for their visual or technical aspects, here the darker tone sits well with the theme until the screenplay spoils the game." Other reviews were also mixed, similarly praising the two lead male actors’ performances but particularly criticising the plot, judged confused. Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 1.5 out of 5 stars, writing "Jeethu Joseph delivers yet another unsatisfactory crime thriller aimed solely at outsmarting the audience". Vishal Menon of The Hollywood Reporter India said that "For all the credit Jeethu Joseph gets for being the Malayalam master of suspense, one doesn’t realise how often he’s made films that talk about something as soft and subtle as parenting."

Controversies

The film became the subject of controversy following allegations regarding its promotional activities. B. Unnikrishnan, general secretary of the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), criticised lead actor Biju Menon for allegedly failing to participate in any promotional events associated with the film.

According to Unnikrishnan, Menon's absence from promotional commitments reportedly part of his agreement led to a financial loss of approximately ₹25 lakh for the producer, including the loss of a potential television deal.

Separately, Joby George, one of the film's distributors also criticised Menon and stated that the film resulted in a loss of approximately ₹16 crore, describing it as the first loss-making project for his banner, Goodwill Entertainments.

External links

• Valathu Vashathe Kallan at IMDb