SOORARAI POTTRU (2020)

Critic - No. 181

Director: Sudha Kongara

Producer: Surya (2D Entertainment), Guneert Monga (Sikhya Entertainment)

Casts: Surya, Paresh Rawal, Aparna Balamurali, Urvashi, Mohan Babu,

Language: Tamil

Genre: Drama

Music: G.V. Prakash Kumar

 

SYNOPSIS:

Nedumaaran Rajangam (Surya) a.k.a "Maara", sets out to make the common man fly and takes on the world's most capital-intensive industry with the help of his friends, family and sheer power.

REVIEW:

Based on Captain GR Gopinath's novel, Simply Fly and other 'stories from the aviation industry', Sudha Kongara's Soorarai Pottru is an inspiring film about a common man who had big ambition.  The film revolves around Nedumaaran Rajangam (Suriya), the son of a school teacher (Poo Ramu) in a Madurai village, who decides to start a low-cost airline for the less privileged. His aspiration is challenged in all directions by Paresh Goswami (Paresh Rawal), a leader in the aviation industry, who ensures that his dream doesn’t take off. How Maara breaks all barriers and takes off his dream forms the crux of the story.

After creating a ripple in the industry by delivering a raw boxing film like Iruthi Sutru (2015), Sudha Kongara is back again to give us yet another inspiring tale about ambitions, with even more cohesive and grounded writing. From the word go, the film anchors its focus quickly and immerses us into the bumpy journey of Maraa, making us laugh, cry, and cheer with the emotional graph. The dialogues are razor sharp and every single character in the film has a strong purpose to elevate the protagonist’s journey, directly or indirectly. The film is packed with poetic visuals, metaphorical inserts of flashbacks and analogies. One such scene I thoroughly enjoyed is where Maara explains the efficiency of his plan with an analogy of Udupi hotel VS 5-star hotel.

As the proverb “Behind every successful man, there is an woman” suggests, Maara’s romantic track builds on that by just not giving us the lovey-dovey scenes, but by showcasing a duo that supports each other through thick and thin. Scenes between Maara and Bommi are a sheer delight to watch especially the scene where Maara swallows his words to ask Bommi for money for his dreams and she gives him more than she asks for. If the main track inspires us to pursue our big ambition, the romantic track shows how important our partner’s support is to make our dream a practical one.

After Vaaranam Aayiram (2008), Surya finally gets a film he deserves with a solid character that he could grasp with his dynamic performance. In many instances, he just talks with his welled-up eyes that express anger, sadness, and determination, all at once. It took 12 years for us to see the fine actor return to full form and one will hope he gets more roles like this. Aparna Balamurali is excellent as Bommi and Urvashi stamps her experience in all the scenes she appears, leaving us with tears each time. Other actors like Karunas, Poo Ramu Mohan Babu, Vivekh Prasanna and Krishna Kumar are well utilised in their limited but important roles.

Soorarai Pottru not only impresses us with engaging content but stuns us with technical brilliance. Be it Niketh Bommireddi’s earthy cinematography or Sathish Surya’s racy edits, the film is packaged like an international biopic. G.V.Praksh excels both in songs and score, playing a major part in elevating the emotional notes of the film. On the downside, the film’s main antagonist Paresh’s motivation and performance look one dimensional which doesn’t really take off to create the tension the makers would have aimed for. The pit stops he throws towards Maara feels slightly repetitive towards the end.

That said, this film is one of the best things that has happened this year to uplift the dampening spirits of the fans of mainstream Indian cinema.

VERDICT: 

‘Soorarai Pottru’ flies high with sheer cinematic excellence, propelled strongly by Surya’s robust performance and Sudha’s first-rate writing.

CELLULOID METER- 4/5:

Watch the full film at Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Soorarai-Pottru-Tamil-Suriya/dp/B08N5HNHD7