There he is! Megastar mammotty with his 9th continous flop. If you thnk it is just commercial failure, I am going to tell you that it has failed critically too, way too long my friend. A real good opportunity gone waste- that’s what I would say of ‘Jawan of Vellimala’, the debut directorial venture of Anoop Kannan. The debut director got Mammootty’s support not just as the lead actor, but as the producer as well; and there was a real good cast too at hand- Sreenivasan, Asif Ali, Mamta etc- plus the picturesque dam location. Anoop Kannan has not been able to make use of any of these to deliver a film worth reckoning. A half-baked script and a film that seems to have no sense of direction- that’s how I’d sum up ‘Jawan of Vellimala’.

Vellimala is a little village among the hills and consequent to agitations by people there and the loss of one life in the agitation, a dam comes up in the little village. Years later, the life in the little village revolves around the massive dam, which also plays a major role in generating electricity for the whole state.

Gopikrishnan (Mammootty) is a retired army Jawan who works at the dam, as an operator as well as night watchman. He is known as someone who fears ghosts and hence his army tales too are seen as mere bluff. He has visions of a strange kind and also has some kind of a soft-corner for Anitha (Mamta Mohandas), the camp officer at the dam. In the meantime, a new executive engineer named Varghese (Sreenivasan) joins up at the dam. He smells something fishy going on and takes up things. Meanwhile Koshy Oomen (Asif), the young son of a contractor comes up, requesting Varghese to sanction the bill presented by his late father so as to save his family from financial crisis.

Mammootty plays an interesting character named Gopikrishnan, a former Jawan of the Indian Army who returned home from Kargil war after injuring his eye. Now working as a pump operator at the Vellimala dam, his queer nature of seeing spirits in the dark and associated cowardice is a mockery for most in the area. Gopi has more attachment with the dam as his father was shot dead while protesting for the dam, years ago. The movie falls into place with the arrival of Varghese (Sreenivasan), the executive engineer who finds some grave irregularities in the dam's construction. A young lad named Koshy Oommen (Asif Ali) also arrives there to settle the long pending bills due to his already deceased father, who was the contractor. Also in other important roles are Chacko (Baburaj) the chief engineer, and Anitha (Mamtha) the camp officer.

As you walk out of the cinema hall having watched 'Jawan of Vellimala', you feel sorry for the film, since this was one that probably had tremendous potentials, but which failed to evolve into an exciting film on screen. Everything feels mediocre barring the acting, and for once, even the ghosts seem uninspiring.