“RETRO” Film Review

Suriya’s first collaboration with Karthik Subaraj is co-produced by Suriya’s 2D Entertainment and Karthik Subbaraj’s Stone Bench Creations.  In the pre-release publicity meetings, the film’s writer and director – Karthik Subbaraj – indicated that he had used a template that was similar to that of Rajinikanth’s Maniratnam directorial, Thalapathi. If one had to describe Retro, it would be a merging of two templates and plots – Thalapathi (itself inspired by the Mahabharatha) and the story of Krishna.

Surya and Pooja Hegde head the impressive cast which also includes Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Joju George, Vidhu, Nassar, Karunakaran, Swasika and guest appearances by Shriya Saran and the film’s music composer, Santhosh Narayanan.

Paarivel Kannan (Surya) grew up in an environment dominated by brutal violence. His broken childhood and the pain he has endured while growing up has left him unable to smile or laugh, even after meeting and falling in love with Rukmini (Pooja Hegde). Although their relationship began in their childhood, growing up in different environments puts them on opposite sides of the moral spectrum. This prompts Paarivel Kannan to shed his violent ways and lead a normal life with Rukmini. However, his adoptive father, Thilagan (Joju George) is adamant that Paarivel should make one last payback. This difference of opinion son escalates far beyond their relationship. After more traumatic events, Paarivel finds himself on a remote island in the Andaman Islands having to face much more than he bargained for.

Suriya has put in heart and soul into his character and his physical preparation for this role is more than evident. In a screenplay where the bulk of the narrative rests on his shoulders, Suriya has done well to live up to the script, despite some huge challenges in his characterization.

Pooja Hegde delivers a solid performance, emoting well and establishing a strong screen presence in the scenes shared with Suriya.

Jojo George makes a valiant effort but the character he portrays has not been well fleshed out. Jayaram, in a role reminiscent of his role in Ponniyin Selvan, is unable to bring relevance to his character. The role gives no indication of his vast talents as an actor or his impeccable comedic timing.

Nassar, despite having limited screen time and limited dialogues, still makes an imposing presence in the film – quite unlike Prakash Raj who is a shadow of himself playing the character, Dharman.

The weakest link in the film is undoubtedly Vidhu whose 70s style villain antics in his portrayal of Michael make it extremely difficult to take him seriously. Great characters artists like Dheena and Karunakaran are given zero scope for their abilities. Shriya Saran seemed quite comfortable in the item song while Santhosh Narayanan is a delight in his brief appearance.

The problem with Retro is that the film is much longer than it should have been. It takes what seems like an eternity to get to the crux of the plot and, even when one reaches that point, the script goes off-tangent again. The result is a script where there is an emotional disconnect between the audience and the film.

The film’s major highlight is a mesmerising contribution by cinematographer, Shreyaas Krishna. A lot has been spoken about the single shot in the first quarter of the film. A single shot is always challenging, but a single shot for a fight sequence where there are multiple players is a magnificent achievement. However, the cinematography shines elsewhere as well. There is a richness in the film’s palette and Shreyaas Krishna’s use of light – natural and otherwise – is masterful. The establishing shots are also used to the maximum and his varied framing and angles bring much-needed attention to the screenplay.

Santhosh Narayanan’s songs match the mood and setting of the picturisation, but falls outside my personal tastes. The vibe of the Kanima song is a scene lifter. His background score is good, but nowhere close to his best efforts.

Kecha Khamphakdee (Bahubali and Thuppaki) has coordinated the film’s stunts and it is a puzzling effort from him, because there are some amazing fight moves and sequences that are interspersed with very unrealistic sequences. The train fight sequence, despite its minor flaws, still stands out as the most impressive in the film.

It seems that Karthik Subbaraj peaked with his debut film and has since been struggling to reach that level. He must be praised for the concept of Retro, which had all the potential of being an outstanding film, but he has relied too heavily on Suriya and not his script or characterization. The result is a film that caters strictly for fans of Suriya.