The Tinu Pappachan directorial Ajagajantharam is an action malayalam film. Starring Arjun Ashokan, Antony Varghese (Pepe), and Kichu Tellus in leading roles, the movie is written by Kichu Tellus and Vineeth Vishwam. The movie was originally set to release in February 2021 and was pushed back due to Covid-19 restrictions, making it one of the most awaited Christmas releases in the year.

The 122-minute movie opens at the Aranjali town that's preparing for its annual festival or puram for which the committee president has arranged an elephant—something that no one has ever been able to do before. The clash between the town's miscreants (locals) and the elephant handlers (outsiders), driven by bruised ego and xenophobia, and how that devolves into a escape or die situation for the outsiders forms the crux of the story. While the movie has other minor subplots, the major theme of the movie is clear in the first 10-20 minutes when Lalli and Kannan's crew have their first encounter.

Ajagajantharam marks the second joint venture between Pappachan and Pepe after Swathanthryam Ardharathriyil. And not unlike Pappachan's debut movie, Ajagajantharam pulls you in its world with immersive music and brilliant shots. Antony Varghese as the quick-tempered Lalli and Arjun Ashokan as the testosterone and ego-driven Kannan do a wonderful job at creating nail-biting moments in the film.

What's brilliant about Ajagajantharam is Jinto George's cinematography combined with Justin Varghese's music score. With just the opening 5 minutes, the duo were able to emulate the atmosphere of a temple festival beautifully, taking you right to the epicientre of all the festivity. After not having a proper festival in almost two years, the movie leaves you reminiscing of the times before the pandemic. The sheer brilliance of the George-Varghese team up shines throughout the film as they create the intense and suspenseful ambiance with just shots and sounds, especially in the second half when the movie takes a turn towards an escape game, not unlike the prison break in Swathanthryam Ardharathriyil.

Admittedly, Ajagajantharam has a lot of avoidable conflicts and ego-centric behavior. However, what makes the movie work is the lack of justificstion or backstories to create an emotional connect. Tellus and Vishwam's screenplay is moderately slick enough to avoid the tropes of "humanizing" either of the lead characters—Lalli and Kannan are both flawed and distateful characters and that's how they are portrayed.

Despite its technical prowess, Ajagajantharam is not flawless. The first half an hour seems overwhelming and you will be left wondering how all the characters you are introduced to are going to contribute towards the story's progress. But that's not the most offputting part; that title would be reserved for the almost bait-like use of Chemban Vinod Jose in the movie, as if to draw the audience in with a renowned name because Jose shows up for a few seconds at the mid-credit sequence.

Overall, Ajagajantharam is an entertaining action thriller. Those who love action sequences will have a treat with this film this Christmas season because there are a lot of fights in the story. With the visual and aural spectacle that the film offers, Ajagajantharam is a movie to be watched in the theatres.