BOTTOM LINE
Joke On Audience
RATING
1.75/5
CENSOR
U/A, 2h 48m
What Is the Film About?
Paarivel aka Paari (Suriya) is an orphan forcefully adopted by Thilak. He has an aggressive attitude and violent nature. Rukmini (Pooja Hegde) is his lover and she agrees to marry him provided he leaves his bloody past behind.
Pari, however, can’t control his anger and the lovers separate. How and where do they meet again? What is the real purpose of Pari and did he fulfil it forms the movie’s overall story.
Performances
Suriya is seen in a cool and trendy avatar based on ‘retro’ looks. He looks stylish on screen and performs his part with the usual intensity. A few moments showcase what the actor can do and make one wish for better.
Special effort seems to be put on action parts which are also fine. Suriya’s previous martial arts skills have been put to use here and they look good on screen. Despite all the positives from the star and from the start, Retro is hardly a memorable affair as the content fails him again.
Pooja Hegde is seen in a deglamorous role similar to her debut movie in Tamil, Mask. The shining part for her from the entire flick is the viral dance clip in the marriage song. She is good there, as far as the rest goes, she tries hard to act understatedly, but it doesn’t work as the material and character are irritating and repetitive.
Analysis
Karthik Subbaraj writes and directs Retro. It is closer in spirit to his last outing Jigarthanda DoubleX, which was one of his best outings in a while. The expectations were set high as a result.
Retro, though, begins in an unexpected style considering the past movies of Karthik Subbaraj. The opening block which includes the narrative up to the hero’s introduction is key to the film’s proceedings.
However, the crucial aspect can be only felt in hindsight and unfortunately, when things actually happen, the proceedings start to lose interest as it moves further.
The screenplay is the culprit here as after an intriguing beginning, the way the narrative shifts across the timeline introducing various threads and characters, nothing feels engaging.
The same happens as we move further with new characters and locations coming in the picture. The core track related to laughter via a doctor character is introduced here along with an island. These things don’t work at all and are boring.
After more than an hour, it’s only around the interval mark when the drama is built with escalating tension that some sense of urgency and engagement is felt. The interval moment is well shot with Suriya’s smile working well as an act and also narratively. It raises hopes for the second half.
The second half, sadly, follows the same suit as the first. There are few moments that show directors unique mark and some exquisite shots are superb, like the one in moonlight in seashore.
But, by and large, the screenplay again plays spoilsport as it lacks cohesiveness. The romantic thread, the father angle involving Goldfish, the Royals of the island playing a mix of Hunger and Squid games, so on, nothing gels well together.
The island people eventually turn out to be integral to the narrative as the hero turns out to be their messiah. This is the movie’s main plot, but it comes too late in the tale. The transition between these different subplots and the emotions they carry individually clash with each other on an overall narrative level.
Should we care about love, or people or the emotional orphan angle? These different emotions don’t blend together to create a powerful emotional arc overall lifting the entire proceedings. In fact, it’s the opposite as we don’t care about any one of them at all. What we get are individual moments and ideas that scratch only the surface of these emotions and leave us exhausted by the end.
The running thread of smile laughter and jokes is a unique idea, but the terrible execution makes the whole thing feel like a joke to the audience.
Overall, Retro is ambitious in its own way in what it wants to convey. But, the execution is far away from this ambition as the muddled narrative that’s all over the place kills any chance. The One Suriya features in another disappointment.
Performances by Others Actors
Joju George and Jayaram are the big supporting roles in the movie. The former is fine in his usual natural style, but the character doesn’t have the meat to sustain the interest. It’s given an ‘Iron Hand’ but it looks like just an add-on and does nothing more. Jayaram gets something different. It starts irritatingly, and then disappears.
Karunakaran is wasted and so is Nasser. The actor playing Micheal overacts, but is okay. The rest of the cast has bits and pieces roles and they are okay.
Music and Other Departments?
Santhosh Narayanan’s music is not that effective in Telugu. The songs don’t work. The dubbing and missing the local flavour is the reason. The background score has moments, but the impact is missing, on the whole.
Shreyaas Krishna cinematography is excellent. The movie carries a vintage look in the sense that the images carry a genuine nineties look or whatever time they are supposed to depict. It looks ‘old’ but it’s done intentionally. The night seashore block revealing Suriya’s purpose looked terrific on the big screen.
Shafique Mohamed Ali editing could have been better. The movie feels very lengthy and confusing too at times.
Art direction and stunts are superb. The action choreography is neat. The production values are fine given what the movie requires. The writing could have been better.
Highlights?
Suriya
Action
Few Dramatic Moments
Drawbacks?
Length
Muddled Screenplay
No Depth In Content For Its Grand Ideas
Island Portions
Love Story Thread
Ha Ha Hospital Track
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
No
Retro Movie Review by M9
