Is Kingdom Similar to Suriya’s Retro?

Since the release of Vijay Deverakonda’s Kingdom, there has been considerable discussion about its storyline and the apparent similarities with one of the recently released Tamil outings, Retro, starring Suriya. More than the heroes, it’s because of the directors involved, Gowtham Tinnanuri and Karthik Subbaraj, that the topic has gained more significance.

In both films, we have a reluctant hero, unaware of his true calling at the beginning. They follow a journey in search of something else and eventually are brought to the place or the people for whom he turns out to be the saviour or the messiah. He is eventually the chosen one whom the people are waiting for.

When we watch Kingdom, naturally, the story and the theme remind us of the same. Since this was seen very recently with Retro, the movie lovers have immediately formed the connection.

Kingdom follows a storyline that feels all too familiar. We’ve seen shades of it in films like Yuganiki Okkadu, Khaleja, KGF 1 & 2, and more recently in Kanguva and Devara. While each had its own tweaks, the core idea stays the same. Among them, KGF’s massive success seems to be the biggest influence on Kingdom. Surprising part is, it comes from the director of Jersey – someone you’d least expect to borrow from others.

It is due to the close release (compared to Retro) and a keenly followed director like Gowtham Tinnanuri that the talk has surfaced online.