1296. Soorarai Pottru (Tamil, 2020)
Drama, Biography
Amazon Prime Original Release
Rating: 4/5
Roosevelt once said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams". Surya's new movie Soorarai Pottru can be handily deciphered using that quote.
Well, the story is loosely based on the life of G.R Gopinath, the founder of Simplifly Deccan, formerly known as Air Deccan. But the story penned by Sudha Kongara took the liberty of changing the whole atmosphere to suit the cinematic language, where Gopinath became Maaran along with the portrayal of other characters.
The story is no different from the usual inspirational movies that garner the viewer's appreciations. The story goes like this. A man from the lower section of society tries to achieve his dream, and while striving to make it a reality, he had to follow a path of thorns and sharp stones. Yes, it's the same old story.
However, the characters are strong and their profundity makes the movie engaging. The stellar performances from the likes of Surya, Aparna, Urvashi, Paresh, Mohan Babu and many others take the movie to another level. The music by GVP is also worth mentioning. The soul of the movies like this finds the way with tunes like this.
The presence of bold female characters and depictions of lower Indian society tries to talk more than the story of a person trying to fly high. Certain caricatures like Ballaiyya (Vijay Mallya) and the likes of many others are in the movie.
Since the movie is loosely based, let's say that these characters are arranged for enhancing the cinematic experience. Wait, there is a scene from one of these characters that give goosebumps. Watch the movie and experience it. Let's keep it a secret.
Apart from prominent features, I felt a lack of WOW factor at times. Especially, the climax should be more worked in that way. But Sudha's version went for melodrama in those places. As mentioned earlier, this story is meant to be an inspirational one, and when such a story is presented on-screen it should be able to provide in full with horripilation. But that was missing from the climax.
Meanwhile, when we look at the bigger picture the movie as a whole is thought-provoking and enthralling that compels the viewers to experience the hardships that Maaran confronted in his way to achieve his dream.
This is a movie that deserved a theatrical release. Sudha Kongara's movie provided a quality OTT release among the likes of many who provided lacklustre experiences to the viewers. As a fan of the OTT platform, I expect much more quality movies to reach the comfort of our home.