Review of “Scene” – Suriya’s 47th film

Suriya’s latest film, Scene, crossed the 100-crore mark in its third day at the global box-office and looks set to become one of his biggest hits. Produced by Suriya’s new production company, Zhagaram Studios with his first production company, 2-D Entertainment – both of which Suriya co-owns with Jyothika.

Scene marks the Tamil debut of Malayalee director, Jithu Madhavan (Avesham) in a film that introduces young Malayelee actor Naslen in his first negative role. Nazriya Nazim (wife of Fahadh Faasil) makes a return to the Tamil screen twelve years after the release of her last Tamil film, Thirumanam ennum Nikkah.

The supporting cast includes Gajaraj (father of Dorothy director, Karthik Subbaraj), Anandraj, Lal, Rajpriyan and Suresh Mathialagan. There are also special appearances by Jyothika and Tovino Thomas (Maari 2 and Minnal Murali)

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DSP Inbaraj (Suriya) is called back to the station by his senior officer, Stephen (Lal) to solve a puzzling case. Inba has a secret that is revealed soon after his arrival. Inba’s parents (Anandraj and Thilagavathy) both have their own personal challenges, so Inba hires Maya (Nazriya Nazim) to help him. The unusual combination proves to be an effective one until they have to cross paths with the wily Eeswaran (Naslen).

The film is dominated by humour and this keeps the disjointed narrative engaging and entertaining. In terms of the serious issues dealt with the film, they all receive the same cursory treatment and the least attention to detail is given to Inba’s affliction, taking its treatment almost to the level of a farce.

Suriya displays impressive comedic timing but is overshadowed by Rajpriyan and Suresh Mathiyalagan. Nazriya Nazim is a breath of fresh air in the film but her performance in this film does not indicate the level of excellence she usually displays in her films.

Gajaraj, Anandraj and Thilagavathy provide good support although it is difficult to identify with any of their characters.

The script by Jithu Madhavan and Dravid Selvam has numerous highpoints, particularly in the scenes that incorporate various types of humour, including slapstick.

It is a disappointing effort by music composer Sushin Shyam in his Tamil debut with none of the songs able to stand out and a background score that is frequently out of synchronization with the film.

It is a minimum impact debut for cinematographer Vineeth Augustian in his feature film debut and it is surprising that he did not make a greater attempt at innovation or creativity.

Scene makes for light viewing because the film does not make any pretence of being a serious film. For fans of Suriya, they would see him in a new avatar and one that would be reason enough to overlook the film’s structural flaws.

Scene is currently being screened in three provinces in South Africa and across the globe in all major screens.