what if aliens aren’t superpowered, world-saving beings, but just as flawed, broke, and messy as us? What if the guy who crashes to Earth is less Superman and more your neighbor with a drinking problem
It’s a novel idea. Unfortunately, in its execution, Pluto never quite figures out what to do with it. The Neeraj Madhav and Althaf Salim starrer has charm, a comic-book visual style, and a few scattered laughs, but it’s short on the one thing a comedy needs most: genuine, consistent humor.
The film centers on Vignesh, aka Vicky, played by Neeraj Madhav. Vicky and his friend Jose, played by Subin Tarzan, are perpetually broke dreamers chasing quick money. None of their schemes work. His girlfriend Meera, played by Aarsha Chandini Baiju, and his parents keep telling him to get serious. He doesn’t listen.
Things spiral after one more failed plan leaves Vicky feeling like the “loser” everyone calls him. That’s when he meets a strange man, played by Althaf Salim, wandering around with no memory and no way home. Vicky realizes he’s an alien. He names him Pluto.
Pluto isn’t here to conquer Earth. He’s here because he flunked an exam back home and ran away. He doesn’t have laser eyes or telekinesis. His one requirement is liquor — it’s literally his food. The two strike up an unlikely friendship.
Trouble arrives in the form of “Tiger” Thambi, played by Aju Varghese, a local small-time crook who hears about the alien and his missing spacecraft. Thambi wants both for himself. The rest of the film follows Vicky trying to protect Pluto while dodging Thambi and his goons.
On paper, Pluto fits a familiar sci-fi template. Person finds otherworldly being. Initial shock turns to friendship. Now they must help the being get home while avoiding bad guys. We’ve seen versions of this from E.T. to Koi… Mil Gaya to PK to Paul.
For Pluto to stand out, it needed fresh comic ideas and emotional beats built around its central gimmick. The script by Niyas Muhammed does introduce some interesting details. Pluto has no powers except rewinding time by 60 seconds using his ship. He runs from home over academic failure. He survives on alcohol.
But these ideas are just placed into the story and left there. The film rarely pushes them into genuinely absurd or moving territory. Instead of leaning into full cartoonish chaos, Pluto keeps pulling back. The result is a movie that feels hesitant — too weird to be a normal comedy, too tame to be a true absurdist
Because the film consciously avoids heavy emotion, it needed to double down on comedy. That’s where Pluto struggles most. There are chuckles here and there, but very few big laughs. One-liners fall flat. Set pieces that should be wild feel muted.
A good example is Aju Varghese’s “Tiger” Thambi. He’s designed to look like Detective Jamban from the popular Malayalam children’s comic Jambanum Thumbanum. It’s a great visual gag with potential for broad, slapstick villainy. But the script never really uses him. He remains underexplored, and so do most of his scenes.
The same problem affects Pluto himself. Once we learn he drinks and can rewind time, the film just repeats those traits. The time-rewind gag is fun the first time. By the third or fourth use in a fight scene, it’s exhausted. We never get deeper into who Pluto is, or why he and Vicky actually need each other beyond convenience.
Casting is another issue. The story might have worked better with younger actors who could fully embrace the cartoonish physicality the roles demand. Neeraj Madhav and Althaf Salim try, but there are moments where you can see them straining to fit the energy. They feel slightly too old and too grounded for the kind of elastic, big performances this material needed
Where Pluto does succeed is in its look. Director Adithyan Chandrashekar and cinematographer Vishnu Sarma give the film a comic-book aesthetic. There are sharp cuts, on-screen text, and stylized effects that make scenes pop. Editor Sanath Sivaraj deserves credit for pushing that further, adding visual gags and vibrance to chaotic moments that the script itself doesn’t fully commit to. Arcado’s music and background score are also solid and keep the pace moving.
For a buddy film, Pluto is surprisingly thin on connection. Vicky and Pluto are together for most of the runtime, yet we get almost no memorable shared moments. Does Vicky care about Pluto beyond the novelty? Is Pluto attached to Vicky beyond the free alcohol? The film tells us in the final act that they matter to each other, but it never shows us why organically.
Pluto had potential. The idea of a powerless, alcoholic alien and a directionless Malayali guy teaming up is inherently interesting. With bolder writing, sharper jokes, and more commitment to absurdity, it could have been a cult favorite.
As it stands, it’s a decent-looking, mildly amusing film that never takes the plunge it needs to. It introduces good ideas and then plays it safe
