Karuppu TamilYogi Movie Review: As soon as Suriya steps into the theatre, the whole environment inside the theatre changes. The rest of the way, the movie’s energy is wasted in a chaotic legal battle filled with impotence and scandal, and when the film’s devotional fantasy mode supercedes them all, it becomes a raucous party of mass film. Here the director, RJ Balaji knows his job, he’s not into realism, he’s into whistles, goosebumps and emotional frenzies. It’s sort of like magic plus legal drama equals a lot more than you’d think, even if the film at times tangles itself up a bit. Accompanied by a briskly energetic background score and chocked with clever references to Suriya’s previous films, it is not really a movie at all but a theatrical show meant just for Suriya’s fan base to erupt within a cinema hall.
The plot follows a young girl and her father’s journey for justice in a court of law. The court is getting more and more full of fog and more and more corrupt, though, and they find themselves in a helpless state. The film takes a sharp turn towards Karuppuswamy at a critical juncture, when a notorious guy turns to him in desperation, and the fantasy mode starts. The main dilemma now is whether justice will prevail in the court or in the form of the divine intervention of Karuppuswamy himself. This combination of religion and law is interesting and engaging, particularly as the movie doesn’t lose its emotional core when it tries for exaggerated commercialism.
Suriya is indisputably the biggest asset of the film. He only makes an appearance at the end of the film about 45 minutes in, but by then, the momentum within the movie has completely shifted. All his frames are meant to drive joy within theatres. Here his screen presence is a huge factor. He’s doing it with his full heart in every scene from the action to the dance movements, every emotional moment and every brutal confrontation. I’m really happy that this is the kind of comeback that Suriya fans have wanted for years. This is not just a film with a lot of moments for goosebumps, it’s an entire film like one long elevation sequence.
I was impressed to see just how brilliant the script is in the way it references. The movie is constantly reminiscing about the previous films of Suriya, even acknowledging to other classic Tamil movies. One particular instance that resonated brilliantly with me was that of Thalapathi and I liked how the scene was played and how it wasn’t over-explained. These will make for some passionate reactions from the fans in the theatres.
One such surprise for me was RJ Balaji. His performances are well written and he has a nice to assist the pacing of the film. I felt the antagonist was too uninteresting at first, but towards the end the character is justified. The adversary doesn’t seem like a threat at first glance, but the script has him in a way that enhances the moral and psychological aspects of the narrative instead of making him the stocky mass-monster.
The background score is to be marvelled about, it’s a sort of second protagonist through the movie. The music brought along with Karuppuswamy brings in a magic ambience of Godliness, specially the climax part. I can see people dancing and whistling in B and C centres when they see those scenes. The spiritual frenzy in the final act was reminiscent of that in Kantara, and is a good influence, rather than a poor imitation. The climax song was really great as it was quite aggressive and emotional, it really got me.
The film also has impressive quality technically. G. K. Vishnu brings in lush visuals which add a big scale to the film, and the editing maintains a few mass moments highly prominent and effective. I also liked the fact that almost all of the supporting characters add meaning to the story. Not a single character feels like it’s not needed, which is very uncommon among the many characters in commercial fantasy entertainment.
But, the film has its drawbacks. The first 40 minutes is a settling period of the story. I think the first half could have been cut back a little bit since the film takes too long to get going. The film also has some moments that mirror Mookuthi Amman, albeit with a man’s perspective, particularly regarding the intermingling of divinity and social critique and humour. There’s a lot of logic that falls down in a few scenes, but I personally didn’t care as the film unapologetically indulges in fantasy from the start.
I didn’t like the second half screenplay as much, that was my bigger problem. It does not operate in a steady manner. There are some very powerful scenes and others that do not seem to be a part of the overall emotional journey. It’s obvious that they saw elevation as more important than storytelling balance. Those elevation scenes were fun, but I felt they could have been more constructed and had a more fluid development. Sometimes it’s like the plot is going somewhere but then it abruptly turns into another fan service moment.
But all that aside, I can’t say that I didn’t get what Karuppu promised, a film that was loud, emotional and a fantasy entertainer that is more or less based on the charisma of Suriya. It will delight fans and possibly even engage family audiences in its devotional feelings and courtroom themes. It ultimately was a solid one-time theatrical watch for me with a few very exciting moments.
Rating: 3.5/5
