Thiagarajan Kumararaja | Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha Akkineni, Fahadh Faasil, Ramya Krishnan, Mysskin, Gayathrie | 2019 | Black Comedy – Science Fiction Fantasy
Categorizing this film into a particular genre is not appropriate. It involves multiple genres and layers. A 175 minutes film without any songs or diversion in Tamil cinema is new, and the best part is that it has played its role rightly. Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s second feature film after Aaranya Kaandam after nine years. I still remember one of the interviews where the anchor asked him the reason behind doing only two films in ten years while other filmmakers are almost releasing a movie in two or fewer years. His answer was simple: ‘l am in no hurry, let me take time and life is long.’ Probably, to deliver a film like Super Deluxe one has to take this time. Super Deluxe is one unusual film with twelve characters, four-story threads, four writers and two cinematographers. This extraordinary film seems to be the spiritual sequel of the film maker’s debut film in terms of genre and treatment.
The real success behind the film lies is weaved through the writing of it. Since the screenplay was written by four directors: Thiagarajan Kumararaja, Mysskin, Nalan Kumarasamy and Neelan K. Sekar, each of them with diverse ideas and ideologies pooling in everything and weaving all the different story threads into one piece and this difference had played a significant impact in the story portrayal too. When talked of writing, Super Deluxe is one of the most flawless scripts in the industry, and the time taken for the filmmaker to complete this is justified. It’s worth the wait to watch such a masterpiece. Each character, frame and dialogues are designed and perfected according to the flow of the story and give the audience a flawless film to watch. It was that curiosity among us in knowing the endpoint where they would lock all the stories that kept us awake throughout the story. Surprisingly, all the stories and the audience were all revolving in the same orbit but with different perspectives.
It’s hard to spot all characters and choose who was the best individually. Vijay Sethupathi would be our obvious choice for his bold choice of portraying Shilpa. Nevertheless, story-wise each character had a reason and justification assisting them all fit perfectly into their roles. Both Ramya Krishnan and Samantha deserve recognition for their choice of Leela and Vaembu. When all other actresses are heading towards commercial films, these two women took up such challenging roles and aced it in style. Fahadh looks smart and does exactly what a typical middle-class guy would have done in his situation. The relativity in his character made him shine throughout the film. As usual, Mysskin with his beard filled the rugged dark look, as pain and regret were being blinded in the name of belief but leaves an open question to us, ‘What would happen if we break that barrier?’ Finally, my personal favourite master Ashwanth; his charm and smart innocence are what spreads positivity among others. His urge to prove his friends wrong and the courage to accept the reality holds a significant impact in the crafting of inclusive perceptions and breaking stereotypes.
Simply put, Super Deluxe has shown us dull locations in the most vibrant way. Each house has a unique colour template and palette. Detailing makes each character stronger and helps in establishing the feelings and the incident. Although the film had two cinematographers, nowhere in the movie, we could spot the difference. Both did their job with utmost perfection and gave a top-notch on-screen experience. Ramya Krishnan’s single take in the hospital, Samantha and Fahadh’s close shots in the warehouse and in their house, those street shots of Vijay Sethupathi and Ashwanth brought the scenes closer to us than it could have been. On the other hand, Little Maestro Yuvan Shankar Raja had only the background score and yet brought in the magic. His subtle, repeated tunes elevated the scenes and kept the intensity as alive as possible. The film held its emotion firmly with the help of Yuvan.
Super Deluxe; an equilibrium breaking stereotype.
M S ASHWIN BALAJI 