Sudha Kongara | Suriya, Aparna Balamurali, Paresh Rawal, Urvashi, Mohan Babu, Karunas,
Vivek Prasanna, Krishnakumar, Kaali Venkat | 2020 | Biopic – Drama
One of the most anticipated movies in Kollywood, Soorarai Pottru is based on Captain G R Gopinath’s “Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey”. Suriya’s thirty-eighth film directed by Sudha Kongara is a biopic about the man who brought low-cost airlines to the Indian public in the early 2000s. A film well written and shot , Soorarai Pottru is Kollywood’s biggest OTT direct release. Released as an Amazon Original Movie, the film can easily be claimed as movie of the year in the industry. Claimed as a powerful comeback for the actor after a string of low-key movies for a few years, the film managed to satisfy both the commercial and critical audience and has emerged as a critically successful film.
Following the three-time period and the backdrop of the Airline industry, Indian Air Force and rural Madurai, the film explored an excellent mix of cinematic fiction into Deccan Air’s reality. Although the story plot and genre were relatively new to the industry, the execution made it seamlessly gel into the audience’s minds. With a strong emotion and determination value, the film inspires a lot many youngsters and evokes the spark of entrepreneurship and pursual of dreams. Every dream has a spark and a film’s success in such biopics depends on how strongly the spark provokes the protagonist. Soorarai Pottru does everything right in that aspect and builds a sense of relatability in the audience. Director Sudha Kongara’s conviction, clean writing and collaboration with the right people have been the base for such a classy output.
Right casting for the right roles does half the job. Undeniably, it was key to the film’s success as well. Aparna Balamurali as Maara’s wife Bommi has given a standalone performance for what the character demanded; the role was tailor-made for her. From the rural Madurai accent to the body language, everything seemed natural and in line with character demands. Urvashi’s emotional portions brought tears to the audience and registered the character significantly. Karunas and Kaali Venkat’s innocence added a lot to the story and kept the humour lively and natural. The Air force and Airline’s backdrop with Mohan Babu, Vivek Prasanna, Krishnakumar and Paresh Rawal contributed substantiallyto the story. It portrayed the never seen Indian Aviation beautifully. Suriya, the man on whose shoulder the whole story travelled, lived as Nedumaaran Rajangam. His expressive gaze and closer to perfection acting in the film easily mark it as one of his career-best performances. His portrayal of the character brought in the much-needed hope and courage for people in the real-life pandemic situation.
The film, amongst everything, enjoyed an excellent technical backing as well. Director Sudha did everything right here again. Right from Vijay Kumar’s powerful dialogues, GV Prakash’s heart-melting songs and goosebumps inducing background score to Niketh Bommi’s awestricking visuals, everyone contributed their parts rightly to bring the dream of Captain G R Gopinath as Nedumaaran Rajangam’s life on screen. With no fight sequences, they’ve managed to deliver such a raw and gritty film. Major contributors for the same are the costumes and Jackie’s artwork. The sets brought the much-needed period feel and gave the actors the liberty to relive the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. In short, Soorari Pottru is an absolute stunner and an inspiring biopic.
M S ASHWIN BALAJI 