Retro movie review: Suriya powers an entertaining, layered, but slightly shaky Karthik Subbaraj film

Indian Express

01-05-2025

Retro movie review: How does one know their purpose in life? Who tells them? What makes them realise? Does everyone realise their purpose? And why are some happier being the conduit in someone else's story rather than being the hero of their own? But isn't that purpose even bigger than the purpose of the 'hero'? Retro is director Karthik Subbaraj talking about a political issue that is closest to his heart. Armed with immense filmmaking knowledge, supported by a strong technical team that understands the assignment, Karthik asks himself an important question through the actions of his protagonist, Paarivel Kannan, played by a terrific Suriya.
Retro begins with someone narrating the story of Lord Krishna, even as we are introduced to the Tuticorin gangster Thilagan (Joju George) and his wife Sandhya (Swasika). Through a series of unfortunate events, a boy born on Krishna Jayanthi finds himself under the aegis of this couple. No points for guessing who this boy turns into, but there is a wonderful way in which all of this unfolds. The rather upbeat narrative soon culminates in the Kanimaa sequence, which is definitely worth all the hype. The single-shot scene is the core of the first half because it beautifully introduces the primary players of the world of Paari — father Thilagan, who loves him as long as he does his bidding, lover Rukmini (Pooja Hegde), who loves him as long as he doesn't do his father's bidding — and once again, no points for guessing which path he would take.
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Now, it would have been interesting enough to see Paari's tussle between the conditional love from two different people. But Karthik Subbaraj isn't someone who is satisfied with just one layer of storytelling. He needs a few more, and this is why the film moves from Tuticorin to the jails of Madurai, and finally anchors at Andaman. It is here that Karthik takes the route of the Jigarthanda franchise. In fact, if Retro was called Jigarthanda 3, it would have made absolute sense. In the first part, he spoke about how cinema can change a person. In the second part, he spoke about how cinema can change a society. In the third part, Karthik has embarked on a narrative to change a person, and thereby a society, and it is in this journey that he has hit a few, and missed a few.
Retro came with the tagline, 'Love, Laughter, and War,' and it is impressive how the laughter part fits into the narrative of the film. Although the entire subplot with the character played by Jayaram doesn't land well, it is interesting how the mind of Karthik works. But this subplot does serve an important purpose, as does the love angle. It is in search of love that Paari finds a means to an end. It is in search of her validation that he does what he does, and it is in search of acceptance that turns him into a different beast altogether. While the initial romance scenes between Paari and Rukmini work really well, courtesy a flashback that adds credence to the random liaison, the portions in Andaman don't have the same impact. And it is mainly due to the rather one-note writing of Rukmini's character. Yes, she wants him to leave the world of violence, but can't she see why he had to take it up? This arc of her character only exasperates, and it is only Pooja's convincing performance that makes us grudgingly look past it.
However, Pari's past catches up, and all roads lead to Andaman, just in time for Karthik to start the third phase of his film — War. And this is also where the film starts to tread dangerously because it is quite an audacious ride to the finish. Audacious does seem like a fair assessment of the happenings in Andaman, simply because the film turns into Mad Max meets Gladiator meets The Hunger Games meets Jigarthanda DoubleX. This mishmash of events oscillates between entertaining and exhausting, and also involves mystical and mythical elements. Now, is Karthik convinced of it all? Yes. Are we? Well, that would decide if Retro really wins your fancy.
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Oh, and in between all of this, there is a 'Golden Fish' that is worth crores and crores of money that joins Pari and the antagonists at the hip. But all of this is just a smokescreen for what Karthik has decided to do. While the elevation of Suriya, and his stellar talents are there for all to celebrate, it is Karthik's strong feelings for the Eelam issue that remains after the dust settles. Be it in Jigarthanda Double X, or even Dhanush 's Jagame Thandhiram, the film was about the trampling of the oppressed, and the revolution that it ignites. It is the same in Retro, and Karthik dedicates the entire first half for fan-servicing of the star and turns the tables in the second to make it a film that services his ideologies and intentions, albeit with the support of the star.
And for Retro, Karthik Subbaraj has employed the services of a star who understands his stardom, and yet wants to do films that are away from the trodden path. Even when Karthik and Suriya decide to cater to the latter's fans, it is not without the former's nuances finding its way into the scenes. There is so much going on in the film, and it is on the able shoulders of Suriya that Karthik decides to fire from a lot of cylinders. Seeing Pari well up or smile, we know it comes from a place of a supremely emotional high. It is Suriya's brilliant turn as Pari that anchors the film, which is definitely too indulgent and even ridiculous at times. Both the indulgence and ridiculousness is planned, and not inadvertent. This is clearly the film that Karthik wanted to make, and it is impressive that Suriya completely surrendered to his director's vision.
It is this vision that allows Suriya to deliver a performance that hasn't come to the fore in a while. He is brooding, smiling, tearing up, loving, and even sinister at times. But he doesn't fit the moniker of a 'demon' that is bestowed upon him by Richard (Vidhu). That is why those stretches feel too stretched and uninspiring. It is disappointing that this sequence provides the platform for an even more outlandish scene, which might have worked even more if the buildup was convincing. Nevertheless, since the writing doesn't always exist to service the superstar at the centre, the references, or as they now call it, 'Fanboy moments', in Retro are intricately meshed with the narrative. A familiar dance step is written into an elaborate dance sequence. A reference to 'Irumbukai Mayavi' is used at the right place, and so is the reference to Karna, which are two Suriya projects that seem to be in developmental hell.
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What cinematographer Shreyaas Krishna, composer Santhosh Narayanan, and editor Shafique Mohammed Ali have achieved in Retro is nothing short of brilliant. Each of them, and a lot more, have stepped up to the plate to make sense of the multiple layers written into the screenplay to make it all into a cohesive film. The background scores for a lot of the characters, and the innumerable fight sequences, is Santhosh having a lot of fun, and of course, there is a beautiful Ilaiyaraaja number and Karthik's hat-tip to Rajinikanth that puts a smile on our faces.
In the outlandish phase of the film, which involves Rajadurai (Nasser) and Michael ruling the island with an iron fist, leading to exploitation of generations of people, war games, crocodiles, and crucifixion, Karthik dials up the quirks, but isn't necessarily backed by the writing. But there are one too many quirks in the film, and there is just too much happening for all of them to land well. It almost feels like the film spends too much time in the incredulous zone, and this doesn't allow the final act to reach the impact that was felt in some of his previous works. But this incredulity is also a smokescreen for a commentary on war profiteering, and the sheer ignorance towards the oppression of the many. While Karthik doesn't really spell out a lot of things in the film, it is clear what he has tried with Retro. He has delivered a film that aims to showcase the best of Suriya, and the actor has reciprocated by giving it his all. He has delivered a film that is high on quirks, and even higher on randomness. He has delved into a genre that he hasn't tried yet, and it is quite a bold experiment.
At the end of it all, as the love finds its crescendo, laughter finds its meaning, and the futilities of war is pronounced, we circle back to THE question that Karthik Subbaraj has been asking himself for a while. Retro is the answer to Karthik figuring out his own Dhammam. And that is… To tell stories about the forgotten. And if he is able to tell it as an entertaining star vehicle that does go around in circles for a while… then, so be it.