‘Udumbanchola Vision’: Mathew Thomas leads an intriguing media tale that occasionally loses its way

Published: October 23, 2026 01:00 PM IST

Updated: October 23, 2026 06:21 PM IST

The media has been a recurring subject in Malayalam cinema, with films exploring the relationship between journalism, power and money, and the compromises that often happen behind the scenes. Salam Bukhari’s ‘Udumbanchola Vision’ takes a look at this familiar territory through the story of a small-town news channel and the people trying to keep it alive.

There are interesting ideas at play here, particularly about the cost of sustaining a media organisation and the ethical lines people cross along the way. However, the film occasionally stretches its premise beyond what feels convincing, especially in the second half, with a few far-fetched developments taking away from an otherwise engaging story.

Set in Udumbanchola, the film revolves around a local news channel that has fallen silent following the death of Zachariya, a well-meaning journalist played by Sreenath Bhasi. It is through Mithun, played by Mathew Thomas, that we are introduced to Udumbanchola Vision, a once-promising channel that is now defunct. An ambitious young man, Mithun takes over the operation hoping to give it a new lease of life. But getting a news channel back on its feet proves more complicated than simply having the right intentions.

There was some curiosity around the film, which marks Mathew Thomas’s first outing as a journalist, following his role as a police officer in ‘Prathama Drishtya Kuttakaar.’ The change in setting gives him an interesting character to work with. Mithun is young, ambitious and eager to prove himself, but he is also entering a world where ideals quickly run into the practical realities of keeping a media organisation afloat.

One of the more interesting aspects of ‘Udumbanchola Vision’ is the way it approaches journalism. Rather than turning into a full-blown exposé of sensationalist television news like ‘Naradan’ or ‘Run Baby Run’, the film takes its time establishing the place a local channel occupies in a small town. A news organisation may begin with the intention of bringing people’s concerns to the forefront, but sustaining it requires money, influence and, sometimes, compromises that are difficult to justify. The film recognises this contradiction without constantly spelling it out.

Unfortunately, the film does not always trust its own premise enough. Just when its small-town setting and relatively grounded conflicts begin to take shape, it introduces elements such as a Russian collaboration that feel unnecessarily elaborate. These developments stretch the narrative well beyond the scale it has established, making parts of the story seem contrived rather than compelling. What could have been an engaging examination of the everyday pressures facing a struggling news channel occasionally veers into territory that demands more suspension of disbelief than the film has earned.

The problem is not that a story about a local news channel cannot have larger ambitions. It is that these ambitions need to grow organically from the world the film creates. Here, some of the narrative turns feel more like gimmicks designed to raise the stakes than developments that emerge naturally from the characters and their circumstances. The result is an uneven film that has something worthwhile to say about the media but sometimes gets carried away in trying to say it. A more restrained approach, which was followed in the first half of the film, might have made its critique sharper and its conflicts considerably more believable.

Still, these excesses do not entirely take away from the film’s appeal. There is enough going on beneath the plot to sustain interest, particularly in the way it touches upon the vulnerability of media institutions and the influence money can exert over them.

Mathew Thomas is one of the film’s biggest strengths. He brings an appealing earnestness to Mithun, capturing the enthusiasm of someone who sees an opportunity to build something of his own. More importantly, he makes room for the character’s emotional side instead of playing him as just another ambitious young man trying to make it big. Mathew has shown that he can carry a film on his shoulders, and this performance gives him another opportunity to explore a role that takes him beyond familiar territory. Even when the writing becomes less convincing, his performance helps keep the character grounded.

Dileesh Pothan is effective in his part, while the rest of the cast contributes to the film’s small-town atmosphere. Gopi Sundar’s music helps maintain the pace, lending certain stretches a lively quality.

The film’s other weakness lies in its characterisation. While it sets up an intriguing world of ambition and ethical compromises, it does not always spend enough time exploring what its characters feel or why they make the choices they do. Some seem to exist largely to push the plot forward, leaving their motivations and emotional conflicts underdeveloped.

‘Udumbanchola Vision’ is not quite the sharp, unsettling examination of the media that its premise promises. Yet there is something engaging about its attempt to look at journalism beyond the familiar spectacle of screaming anchors and sensational headlines. It recognises that the media’s problems do not always begin with a blatant lie; sometimes, they begin with a small compromise that becomes easier to make the next time around.

The film could have been more incisive had it trusted this idea and its characters a little more, resisting the temptation to make its story bigger than necessary. Even so, it remains an interesting, if uneven, watch, with Mathew Thomas providing a solid centre to a media drama that has its share of flaws but is never entirely without merit.