Retro Movie Review

After tasting a bitter moment at the box office with Kanguva, Suriya is back with Karthik Subbaraj, who is known for his unique filmmaking. With all the pre-release buzz and a sleek, action-packed trailer, RETRO promised much. But does it deliver? Let’s find out.

Setup:

Pari (Suriya), after his presumed father—who works as a watchman—dies, is adopted as a child by Sandhya (Swasika) and Tilak (Joju George). After Sandhya’s death, Tilak, who is involved in smuggling activities, raises the boy as his henchman. Rukmini (Pooja Hegde) meets Pari first as a kid and then later when he’s grown up. In order to be with her, Pari tries to control his anger, quits all illegal activities, and decides to marry her. However, this doesn’t sit well with Tilak, as Pari had hidden his ‘Golden Fish’ consignment before quitting. This leads to a rift between them. What happens at the wedding? Can Rukmini stop Pari from returning to his old self? What is Pari’s real identity? What is his true purpose in life? All of this forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Suriya, as usual, did his part well. However, due to the character traits, he has appeared in a quite one-note character limiting his variations. He excelled in the action sequences and was particularly effective in the Bujjamma/Kanimaa song sequence, portraying various emotions. Pooja Hegde, with a de-glam look, was decent until the Bujjamma/Kanimaa song. Post that, her performance declined significantly—especially during emotional sequences, where she struggled. The other actors—Joju, Michael, Vidhu, Nasserm, Jayaram—were all good but at time felt slightly over the top with their performances

Technical Aspects:

Shreyaas Krishna’s cinematography is one of the strongest aspects of the film. He maintained appropriate color tones according to the setup. Special mention to the 15–17 minute single-shot sequence during Bujjamma/Kanimaa, which looked seamless, featuring multiple setups and movements across the wedding hall. Editor Shafique could have done a much better job, as the major drawback of the film is its length and a few never-ending sequences.

Music by Santhosh Narayanan is passable, with Bujjamma/Kanimaa becoming a chartbuster before release. The BGM is very average for the Telugu audience—it might appeal more to Tamil viewers as a lot of retro Tamil style music was used. Production values were good, with most of the movie shot on an island.

Karthik Subbaraj’s story, which takes an anthology-style approach, is decent on paper. However, the execution and the sluggish pace test your patience. His direction, inspired heavily by Quentin Tarantino, seems to go overboard here. The dependence on non-linear screenplay and stylized action doesn’t serve the purpose of crafting an engaging film in this case

Thumbs Up:

Suriya’s performance
15-minute single-shot Bujjamma/Kanimaa song sequence
A few action episodes

Thumbs Down:

Movie length & Snail-paced narrative
BGM & songs
Lack of emotional connect
Pooja Hegde’s thread
Screenplay & Direction

Analysis:

Growing up, Pari never smiles—he carries an untold trauma around him. The story revolves around his quest to find purpose through various means or levels—Love, Laughter, War, Cult, Dhammam, The One. In trying to establish and connect all of these themes, Karthik Subbaraj fails to engage the audience.

The initial 30 minutes set up things well—Pari’s backstory, his marriage, and his arrest. But after this, the film goes haywire with random scenes and absolutely no emotional connect. There’s no proper flow or momentum to keep the audience engaged. At one point, you feel the need for a fast-forward button in the theatre—or are simply tempted to walk out. The sluggish pace even makes you doze off at times.

To make things worse, the Telugu dubbing for Suriya feels very awkward. The dubbing for other characters is also off and doesn’t sound organic. The dubbed songs are outright bad. Suriya, who always gives his 100% to any role, does the same here, but for his effort to be noticed and appreciated, good and engaging writing is essential—which is lacking here.

The whole plot involving the Black Island, slaves, and a king reminds us of the director’s previous film Jigarthanda Double X. The final revelation of the hero’s purpose follows the usual saviour trope. To get to that point, the movie takes too many detours and introduces uninteresting threads.

Overall, RETRO is not the comeback film Suriya was hoping for. The wait continues for that one film that will truly complement his efforts.

Bottomline: NOT THE ONE

Rating: 1.75/5