But the son in him overwhelms the Major that he is and events of his life unfold as flashes in his mind. With gritty determination, the young man declares he wants to go ahead with the mission. The news is conveyed to his son, Major Suriya (Suriya) who is part of a rescue mission.
The story starts off with a senior citizen Krishna (Suriya) getting his hair trimmed in a saloon only to die after reaching home. Much effort has been taken to bring out authenticity to the 'period' effect which is praiseworthy. The story follows the lead characters (the protagonist and his father) through decades. Gautham has most definitely missed the plot with 'Varanam Aayiram' giving more emphasis to incidents rather than connecting them well. All films that have been successful in being called classics portray enduring human emotions that can be related with instantaneously. Unfortunately, all the ingredients that go into the making of a classic are missing thereby making the screenplay stagnate at times to irritable proportions. The narration of the film has been designed to follow a 'classic approach'. Probably the biggest drawback of the film. One can understand the director's angst at losing a parent, and trying to make a film about the loss, but then the man's (father) enigma never takes center stage throughout the film. The film designed as a tribute to Gautham Vasudev Menon's father comes across as emotions spelt out in a reserved manner and thereby proves to be a tame affair.