Valathu Vashathe Kallan

Valathu Vashathe Kallan
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jeethu Joseph
Written by	Dinu Thomas Eelan
Produced by	Shaji Nadesan
Starring	Biju Menon Joju George
Cinematography	Satheesh Kurup
Edited by	V. S. Vinayak
Music by	Vishnu Shyam
Production companies	August Cinema Bedtime Stories Cineholis
Distributed by	Goodwill Entertainments
Release date	30 January 2026 (2026-01-30)
Running time	135 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Valathu Vashathe Kallan (transl. The thief to the right) is a 2026 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film directed by Jeethu Joseph, written by Dinu Thomas Eelan, and produced by Shaji Nadesan. The film stars Biju Menon and Joju George.^[2]

Valathu Vashathe Kallan was released on 30 January 2026 and received mixed reviews from critics.^[3]

Antony and his son Philip is on the path to seek if they can truly be close. Antony 's mentality stands in the way. His actions lead to a night of enigma, when cruelty meets innocence.The film starts with counselling centre where doctor counsels both son Philip and inspector Antony to behave friendly and to Antony to be more friendly and fatherly as Philip claims father's ego is not allowing. Antony is approached by a girl for complaining against her schoolmate Rajeev who tried to spoil her but Antony tells the opposite team are good influential and it is as if she was in love with Rajeev past two years and the opposite party can claim it's a false case as she was in relationship with sijo also who is a friend of her, the mother of this girl on hearing tells they don't have complaints and leaves the room. Outside Irene asks what happened but the mother tells we cannot listen to her and leaves the area with her daughter. Antony is seen appreciated by some higher police official as the case got cancelled. While the mother and daughter travels in a auto-rickshaw, the auto-rickshaw suddenly slows as some big vehicle gives a deep horn , this time the daughter comes out and gets hit by the big vehicle shown as lorry resulting in the daughter traumatized deeply and dies in the hand of Irene. Irene tells irene' s father Sam that she believes in the saying don't wait for what country do for you and to do what you can so to get justice for the died girl she will fight. Irene goes missing one night and later seen her dead body, autopsy reported she was brutally killed by hitting with a hard object on the head as an act of deep hatred. Rajeev' s girlfriend gets send out when she asks Rajeev what happened to Irene repeatedly but Rajeev tells he don't remember. Antony is seen in a CCTV footage as catching Irene for parking in a no parking area but Irene argues he is drunk and don't want to talk with him but Antony enters her car and the car drives to somewhere, Antony takes away the CCTV footage and tells the shopkeeper he should not tell anyone that he has come to his shop. Antony is shown in another footage talking with Rajeev in a bar and the higher official says Antony cannot be kept in charge for the investigation of Irene's case and tells firoz is in charge now as Antony is a suspect now. Antony is shown as flashback catching his son Philip from some hostel as both are seen enjoying drugs but both Rajeev and Philip escape from there. Antony is shown a video where Sam keeps a bag and reveals as Rajeev and he releases two dogs that harms Rajeev and Sam tells the hunger of hunting dogs should be relieved. Antony tells the police team to get Sam as early as possible and Sam's personality is shown as taking some psychiatric drugs. Sam one day arrives at Antony's office and tells to Antony to confess he is the second culprit behind Irene's death if not he won't tell his son Philip's location as now Philip is seen in a closed cabin . Antony points gun but Sam shows him the poison he took that will die him within five minutes. Sam gives a phone number as a clue and the phone number reached Philip but Philip unable to send location as the phone is not advanced model and battery charge also low. Tracking Sam's involvement in another case of Elizabeth death at aluva , Antony finds that the main killer was saved by Antony by forcing the charge against some innocent person. Later the main killers mother who is a mla is seen tied in a chair and confesses to social media that Elizabeth case she influenced Antony to save her son who is the killer of Elizabeth but Mustafa was trapped as the guilty and punished by the court. Gradually Antony gets a hotel number room no. 403 as someone who introduced as Sam came earlier to aluva police station to ask about Elizabeth death case and tells he is staying in room no 403 so Antony manages to get call extended to room no 403 and is shown Theresa wife of Sam who also poison herself about to die gives a phone number as clue to reach Philips, before dying Theresa tells Sam found out of Philip psychopath character was raised by Antony's harsh behaviour as Antony humiliated Philip for humiliating another girl in his classroom by pulling down the skirt the girl was wearing and on the day when Antony tries to catch Philip from the flat while enjoying drugs with Rajeev, Philip and Rajeev escape but while Philip chases Antony, gets interrupted by Irene's car on the road and Irene talks rudely but Philip takes a rock and hits Irene brutally to death, Theresa dies as she tells she don't want to live where Sam and her daughter Irene is not living. The phone number is Antony's and Antony's house the police team finds a altered portion of land so digs but finds Rajeev who is not dead so takes him to hospital. After Antony accumulates and thinks all the clues together he reaches peita near a church graveyard but here he becomes a typical honourable father who stops searching for his son Philip and thus Philip dies.

The project was officially announced on 21 April 2025 by Jeethu Joseph.^[4][5] Principal photography began in May 2025 in Kochi with a pooja ceremony.^[6] Filming wrapped on 11 August 2025.^[7]

Valathu Vashathe Kallan was released on 30 January 2026.^[3]

A mixed review in The Hindu wrote: ”Part of the film works because of the presence of the two towering performers in Biju Menon and Joju George, who, even when they are not at their best, lend some gravitas to the proceedings. Although Jeethu’s films are not particularly known for their visual or technical aspects, here the darker tone sits well with the theme until the screenplay spoils the game.”^[8] Other reviews were also mixed, similarly praising the two lead male actors’ performances but particularly criticising the plot, judged confused. Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 1.5 out of 5 stars, writing "Jeethu Joseph delivers yet another unsatisfactory crime thriller aimed solely at outsmarting the audience".^[9] Vishal Menon of The Hollywood Reporter India said that “For all the credit Jeethu Joseph gets for being the Malayalam master of suspense, one doesn’t realise how often he’s made films that talk about something as soft and subtle as parenting.”^[10]

• Valathu Vashathe Kallan at IMDb