'Retro' Movie Review: An Earnest Suriya in An Unusual Mix of Genres and Ideas

Director: Karthik Subbaraj
Writer: Karthik Subbaraj
Cast: Suriya, Pooja Hegde, Jayaram, Joju George, Nassar, Prakash Raj
Language: Tamil

Has there ever been another Tamil filmmaker as obsessed with the idea of irony as Karthik Subbaraj? You find this obsession in his earlier works too, including the very concept of making a feminist film by giving us the stories of three flawed men. Or the way in which the government’s indifference towards workers who suffered mercury poisoning was addressed in a silent film. Most recently, he also gave us a schoolteacher named Gandhi who goes on to become the biggest bootlegger in Tamil Nadu. But in his latest Retro, irony isn’t just in the details that make up the subtext; it is very much a part of the text as well. 

This includes something one of the character calls “beautiful irony,” like how a laughter therapy clinic is set up in the same spot that once housed the gallows. Or the cheeky fun Subbaraj is having when Santosh Narayanan plays a tune that resembles a lullaby, as Suriya’s character Paari schools a bunch of bad guys while they call him Doctor Chaplin. You find the same irony coming to the fore when he decides to write a love story about a violent, relentless fighter like Paari, who falls for Pooja Hegde’s Rukmini, a doctor, a healer, who is against violence in any form.

A still from 'Retro'

But the decision to name the lead couple Paarivelan and Rukmini isn’t just because the film wants to repurpose the metaphor of Lord Krishna and his wife Rukmini. Subbaraj also plants a second layer by giving his Rukmini character the composure of Buddha. The conflict isn’t limited to Paari giving up his violent ways to be with Rukmini; Retro takes this conflict and then doubles down by making it a debate between the path of peace chosen by Buddha, and the path of war as advised by Lord Krishna. 

It really is a fascinating starting point, making Retro a more complex film than the one you’d imagined it to be at the halfway mark; up until then, it takes its own time figuring out what kind of film it wants to be.

It begins by giving us the origins story of Paari, who is not just born on Krishna Janmashtami, but also being taken care of by his foster parents. His life itself began with the sight of intense violence and that’s why, we’re told, Paari finds it impossible to smile. In true Karthik Subbaraj fashion, Retro isn’t just about Paari finding his home or his journey towards non-violence; it is also a film in which Suriya’s smile gets the author-backed privilege of a complete character arc.  

At times, one finds the film losing focus in its hurry to say all the clever things it’s trying to state. But even as it tries to find its rhythm, we get Karthik Subbaraj ending the debate at least when it comes to single takes in Tamil cinema. It’s the season of single takes, including shows like The Adolescence and The Studio, or most recently in Vikram’s Veera Dheera Sooran. But in the wonderfully audacious single take in Retro, we get a potent mix of genres and moods all set during a wedding reception as we keep getting snippets of the viral ‘Kanimaa’ number; there’s drama, there’s action, and the film’s conflict is introduced during this take which is also wildly original and loads of fun. 

A still from 'Retro'

But it’s the same fun that we begin to start missing when the film shifts places, moods, and genres for it to also talk about a cause. Now we know this about Karthik’s cinema and how almost all his films come attached with an issue. Some are organic and important to the soul, like it was in Jigarthanda DoubleX (2023). In other instances, such as in Jagame Thandhiram (2021), the cause felt like an excuse to give us more than just the quintessential Karthik Subbaraj style that made us all fans. In Retro, I had mixed feelings about the cause the film brings up — not because of the topic — but how these points are brought up and the silly ways in which they get resolved.

Another reason one finds Retro getting weaker is when we are introduced to a villain and a sub-plot too late into the film. From a layered, complex film that’s already stuffed with a potent mix of ideas, we’re thrown into an even newer world that is part Squid Game, part Hunger Games and wholly absurd.

Subbaraj finds clever ways to bring us back into the story, especially in the way we forgive the conceit and accept it as an excuse for elaborate fight sequences. The other reason we feel invested, despite so many jumps in narration, is because Suriya never allows us to overlook his character. Even when Retro transforms into a story about the 'Chosen One' too late into the film, we pay attention thanks to Suriya’s conviction.

Retro might not work on all levels, but it’s a film that ends up earning your respect for the wild swings it takes, and for the wilder ways in which it wants to say them.