Varavelpu

Murali returns to his home town after spending 7 long years hardworking in gulf with an intention to settle down peacefully in his hometown. Much against the greedy wishes of his family members, he decides to buy a second-hand bus that comes along with a route permit. This is when he faces a lot of hardships. Starting from an accident because of the inefficient driver, a cheating conductor, to a cunning union leader, Murali's life is taken for a toss with ever growing challenges one after the other.

He eventually gets an offer from a labour officer, which he turns down. He says that he has already lost this game, and he prefers to move for a better job. At last it is depicted as he leaves to Bombay.

The film was based on a real-life incident in Sreenivasan's father's life. Sathyan Anthikkad got the story idea while listening to Sreenivasan when he recalled how his family ended in financial debt as his communist father was labeled a capitalist after he bought a bus.[6]

In 2003, the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee mentioned the film and Mohanlal in his inaugural speech at the Global Investor Meet held in Kerala. He said: "I am told that there is a Malayalam movie called Varavelppu in which your famous actor Mohanlal acts as a Gulf-returned Keralite. He invests his savings in a small business venture with high hopes. But in the end, he is forced to close it down after going through many unpleasant experiences. Therefore, this conference should serve as an occasion for introspection".[7]

• Varavelpu at IMDb