Late to the party but Justin from BKU is the embodiment of non-toxic masculinity whose moment in Malayalam cinema has arrived.
Nivin's character Justin is wonderfully conceived: throughout the film, he is a man who shows self-restraint in multiple situations. Ofc, he is 36, carrying the burden of family and neighbourhood, not to mention, his own demons from the past where he loved and lost his love. But Nivin plays the character with a light touch: this is a new kind of manly man for Kerala cinema where the provider/protector is not a toxic alpha wolf but a pack-man who has a core of dear friends both male and female, and who still puts forward family and neighbourhood as priorities.
His red Ford Ikon is a great symbol: the bright red a hangover from the halcyon days of his youth (a la Premam perhaps) when he must have been so dashing and cool with his ride. Now, it's a car that does family chores, though each time Justin revs, steers, and drifts it (usually to save someone's skin!), sparks of that young yokel fly across the screen and we know that this responsible driver is in full control of the vehicle. Other instances: Justin making peace (even at great financial cost) while his younger brother wants war; Justin stopping the fight once Hari goes mental (partly because the possessed moment gives him seemingly superhuman strength so Justin, wisely, steps back and watches!); Justin holding back his attraction until Ashley is both convinced and can convince him that she knows her mind and will not regret her decision in the future.
So, throughout Justin does all the things that Malayalam film heroes have rarely done and he pushes back against social toxicity of all kinds (not just gender/patriarchal). He drinks with his buddies but will not use alcohol as a crutch to headline his life, plus his vow to Ashley is more important to him. Justin is a character in a film and perhaps no real man can be that mix of charm and desirable manliness that Nivin imbues into the character (film's writers, take a bow too!) but that a Justin can be imagined-- with all his flaws and comic lightness -- gives Malayalam cinema's fictional men and real Keralan men a great role model to keep in mind.
This kind of self-deprecating humour does not undermine Justin as it might have the earlier set of Malayalam film heroes whose hero status is so tied to their self-gravitas and macho which other characters, esp female, pamper and puff up continually. "What would Justin chettan say or do?" is a great framework to keep in mind, for young men navigating 21st century social mores that are changing rapidly in an era of massive digital change and women's visibility in all social and cultural spheres. For young women too, Ashley is a character worth remembering as she is interesting in her own right. However, the film really belongs to Justin, a Valiyettan sans the melodrama, narcissism, and toxicity.
For a while now, a range of Malayalam films has been trying to create and flesh out an interesting, charming, sexy male hero figure whose vulnerabilty is not weakness and whose strength is not narcissism or artificial stunts but a comic lightness maintained along with the capacity to feel deeply. Nivin brings to life this lovely fiction of a man that the rest of us can think of as a shining light for the dark evenings of life.
If you made it till here, thanks for reading!