Beware of Dogs

The film opens with Thulsiandan Pillai introducing his small, interconnected world: his wife, Radhika, and their daughter Meera, who studies at the nearby General Engineering college. The family life feels ordinary at first, until a strange sound from above unsettles the day, and Thulsi gently explains that it’s the “Dogs” making the noise. This odd omen sets a tone of mystery and humor that threads through the early scenes. Thulsi’s household is a mosaic of neighbors and friends who drift in and out of each other’s lives, each character carrying a distinct scent, a habit, or a dream that will lead to small but telling confrontations. Thulsiandan Pillai (Sunil Sukhada) anchors a gentle, watchful presence, a man who tries to keep peace while managing a household that already feels crowded with stories.

The movie widens its circle to Dominic (Siju Wilson), a man who has tempting opportunities in the United States but is ensnared by a tense relationship with his girlfriend, Tina. Tina’s threats—insisting that she would take her own life if he ends things—cast a shadow over Dominic’s choices, and he dodges her calls by claiming he’s in meetings or mulling over business plans. He lives with a small, unruly family of friends and colleagues who make up his imperfect support system: Oomen, a waiter who dreams of bigger things; Gautam, a bar musician and guitarist who struggles with fair pay; and Sunny, a perfume-obsessed man who uses his fragrance knowledge to charm people, often with reckless charm. The dynamic between these men creates a blend of humor, tension, and vulnerability, and Thulsi’s home begins to feel like a crossroads where different fates might collide at any moment.

As the pressure builds, Thulsi makes a public warning to the group: a solitary board reading “Beware of DOGS” goes up, a playful yet ominous symbol that foreshadows how the men’s personalities will be tested. But life pushes the warning into a sharper focus when Oomen, the bar waiter, receives an opportunity to relocate to Pondicherry and leaves the area. Thulsi breathes a sigh of relief, only for the balance of the house to tilt again as Gautam resigns from his job after a dispute over pay and, in the process, loses his guitar. The loss hits him hard, and he mourns the instrument as if it were a cherished friend. In his moment of despair, he reaches out to Omanakuttan, a wealthy and influential friend, hoping to replace the guitar or perhaps to find some measure of security.

Omanakuttan (Sekhar Menon) replies with generosity, overwhelming Gautam with money. Yet generosity soon gives way to something heavier: a sense of obligation and debt that skews into manipulation. Late one night, Gautam receives a suicide text that appears to come from Omanakuttan, a chilling reminder that wealth can mask volatility. They rush to the hospital, where the danger is averted, and Omanakuttan becomes a more permanent presence in the household, moving in and disrupting the fragile equilibrium Thulsi had tried to maintain. The arrival of Omanakuttan also forces a stark change to the original warning: Thulsi is compelled to erase the “O” from the word DOGS on the sign, then to exaggerate the “O” by making it visibly fat to emphasize Omanakuttan’s oversized influence. The sign, now altered, becomes a recurring symbol of control, power, and the price of loyalty in a group that never quite learns to play it safe.

Meanwhile, the tension between money, power, and responsibility intensifies. Thulsi tells Dominic that if he does not move out of the shared space or contribute to the rent, he will have to reveal the truth to Baptist (Manoj K Jayan). Dominic is puzzled by who this “Thug” could be, and in a bid to understand the threat, he goes upstairs to recount the downstairs events in full detail. Gautam, listening with a wary eye, recalls a past encounter in a bar where the bar’s debt system and payment in “Baptist” money created a brutal scene. The memory hints at a deeper, shadowy power that has influence over the bar, the neighborhood, and the lives entwined with it. Gautam’s retelling cements the impression that Baptist is not just a name, but a force—someone who can make life difficult for those who owe him or cross him.

The film threads these memories and confrontations into a larger portrait of friendship, debt, and the stretch between generosity and coercion. Each character’s ambition—the lure of overseas opportunities, the desire to be seen as successful, the need to protect family or friends—collides with the region’s stubborn realities and with people who wield influence in quiet, everyday ways. The tension escalates not through loud action but through the slow, intimate pressure of expectations: of rent paid, of guitars bought and sold, of the precious balance of trust within a tight-knit circle.

What unfolds is a study in how easy it is for a group on the edge of adulthood to be pulled apart by competing loyalties. The home becomes a microcosm of the wider world, where money, fame, and affection pull at people in different directions. It’s a film about alliances that feel fragile, about the compromises people make to protect those they care about, and about the uneasy line between help and manipulation.

Throughout, the ensemble cast contributes to a mood that is both grounded and slyly humorous, anchored by Thulsi’s steady resolve and sharpened by the contradictions that arise when friends become rivals and debts become weapons. The interplay between the characters—Dominic’s evasions, Gautam’s artistic frustrations, Sunny’s risky charm, and Omanakuttan’s opulent influence—creates a web of relationships that reveal how fragile a seemingly close-knit group can be when external pressures intensify.

Beware of DOGS

In the end, the story explores how a community navigates the thin margins between care and control, between generosity and manipulation, and between the comfort of shared history and the necessity of stepping into a harder, more independent future. The film lingers on the idea that even within a family-like circle, the most dangerous dogs may be the ones wearing familiar faces, and the path to resolution lies in facing the truth about power, money, and the people who hold them.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:34