Retro review: Suriya stuns while Pooja Hegde puts out her career-best

Karthik Subbaraj’s Retro, an experimental romantic Tamil action drama, speaks for the voiceless and enslaved ethnicities across the globe.

Retro starts as a plain romantic action drama initially revolving around Paari Vel (Suriya), a reformed gangster who is set to marry Rukmini (Pooja Hegde). His adopted gangster dad Thilagan (Joju George) first ignores him but later embraces him, as he is an iron-fisted henchman who can do any dirty job for him.

A clash and a rift

But a rift occurs between Paari and Thilagan as the former hides away a large shipment called Gold Fish and refuses to fulfill the last job order from Thilagan. This rift between Paari and Thilagan causes major trouble in the former’s romantic life as Rukmini walks away from him, seeing his violent past again.

Now, Paari has to find Rukmini and save himself from his 'angry dad'.

The Kannimaa song, a single-shot dance choreography, is followed by a single-shot action choreography, and it's a monumental achievement.

The story then shifts to another location, an island where a group of people are enslaved by a cult group.

The rest of the film is all about how Paari finds his purpose in life, how he starts to smile for the first time, and how he rescues the enslaved tribe.

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Suriya’s intense performance

It’s a pleasant surprise to see Suriya as an author-backed character after a long time. He stands apart as an intense performer.

The way he exhibits pain, love, and anger through his eyes is impeccable. It’s not an easy task not to smile throughout the first half of the film. When he smiles for the first time, we understand the importance of being happy.

Pooja Hegde, who has probably come up with her best performance till date, is the anchor of the film’s core plot and the driving force of Retro. Among the other actors, Joju George is good but it’s Vidhu who steals the show with his insane performance.

The rest of the actors are just adequate. Karthik Subbaraj’s noble intention is perhaps to give a voice to enslaved tribes across the globe and send a strong statement against dictators, and the film takes a detour to arrive at an impactful climax.

Experimental approach

This experimental approach, adapted by Karthik Subbaraj in Retro, may not appeal to all audiences. He subtly conveys multiple things in the mainstream format through his characters. Only toward the climax do we get to know what the real story is about and whom the director attacks as dictators.

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We have to wait and see whether this experimental screenplay and references would appeal to all sections of audiences. Also, the plot reminds us of SS Rajamouli’s Chatrapathi, which is a drawback.

Technically, Shreyas Krishna’s cinematography looks glossy and grand throughout. Santhosh Narayanan’s background score is one of his best works in recent times. The Kannimaa song, a single-shot dance choreography, is followed by a single-shot action choreography, and it's a monumental achievement.

Overall, Retro is not just yet another action drama, it’s a noble film about slavery, cowardly dictators, and of course, the importance of being in love and smiling. Watch it if you are in the mood to watch an experimental action drama with a noble message and to see the performer Suriya in action.