Super Deluxe

Super Deluxe is one such movie which makes it hard for a reviewer to review, not because it’s bad but since it’s so very well made that one remains speechless after the movie. I haven’t seen director Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s last outing Aaranyakandam (2011) and went in for Super Deluxe without any escalated hopes. In a phase where movie makers chose to tell almost the entire story of the movie through the trailer, Super Deluxe’s trailer kept me guessing and intrigued in so many ways and that’s the sole reason why I decided to watch the movie and trust me if I hadn’t, it would have been a huge loss.

The beauty of this movie is the precision and passion with which it is created; from an intriguing trailer to intricately designed posters to a brilliantly crafted movie, Super Deluxe never disappoints you. In an era of monotonously one toned characters, Thiagarajan’s world offers an entire story and characters are presented with extreme detailing and depth. Super Deluxe cannot be categorized as of one genre as it touches almost every aspect of life like life, morality, sex, gender discrimination, marriage, politics and what not and in a fascinatingly clever manner.

Just like the layered storytelling, each and every character has given us captivating performances. Before I go into any one of them, personally for me the star of the movie is Raasukutty, played by the endearing Ashwanth. With his adorable mannerisms, he takes you through the yearning and unconditional love for his father. He doesn’t give a damn about the world or its stereotypes; he doesn't care if his father is a man or woman. 

All he wants is his father, who came back after years changed as a woman, to stay back and his way of dealing with a trans person is an eye-opener for all of us. Raasukutty’s highly exasperated and emotional dialogue, “Nee ponbalayavo ambulayaavo irinthitu poo aanal enka koode iruthu tholaye” (You be a woman or a man, however it is, stay with us) is certainly going to haunt you even out of the theatre.

Vijay Sethupathi again proves his caliber in his portrayal of Shilpa, a trans woman refusing to be apologetic about the decision she took but haunted by the ghosts of the past and equally stumped by the unconditional love of her son. The extent of dedication Sethu puts into each character is evident in the transformation he goes through and Shilpa is no different. Sethu makes sure from the intro that one roots for Shilpa and her life.

Though not given too much screen time another character who made an impact for me was Gayathrie Shankar as Jyothi, Vijay Sethupathi’s wife. Her plight of longing and happiness about the estranged husband’s return, disbelief and utter shock of the transformation he went through and the breakdown realizing her repeated misfortunes is brilliantly portrayed in fewer words and intense expressions. Her dialogue, “Naanum oruvela April fool nu nenachen theriyuma” (Even I thought for a moment that you were playing an April Fool prank) looking at her husband busy draping a saree, is another dialogue which will hurt. 

Samantha Akkineni in a recent interview with Baradwaj Rangan said, her aim from now on is to do roles which she can be proud of. Well, with Vaembu she can safely say, she did open her account. Vaembu, the headstrong woman unapologetic about her sexual desires is by far the best performance of her career.

It was a pleasure to watch Ramya Krishnan back on screen with an impactful performance.  A doting mother, a badass woman, an actor who once used to act as goddess, now working in the porn industry to make a living, Ramya Krishnan made the character of Leela, memorable with her acting prowess.

Fahad Faasil as Mugil gives us another terrific performance; with his portrayal of Mugil’s emotions from shock to unaddressed frustrations, this actor proves he is a gem. His monologue with the corpse of his wife’s ex-lover is something one can never forget and director’s addition of a tinge of black humor here and there makes it hilarious at different levels.  

An eccentric character Arpudam aka Dhanasekar (played by Mysskin, also of the four writers of the movie including Nalan Kumarasamy, Neelan K.Sekhar, and Kumararaja) plays brilliantly with the rights and wrongs and lines blurred in between with regards to our belief systems. 

The transformation of Bagavathi Perumal as Berlin, one of the evilest cope I have seen in Tamil cinema recently, was a huge leap to take and what a perfect execution! The director literally pushes the edge so far with each character that you are left with no choice than to live the life with the characters and emotionally root for them.

This is one such rare movie which respects the audiences’ emotions and intelligence quotient; nowhere ideologies or viewpoints or humor is spoon-fed to you. In fact, most of the scenes in the movie are so open-ended that this movie can be perceived in different ways by different people. Still, for sure you will walk out of the theatre with most of your perceived notions and stereotypes disturbed.   

Picture Courtesy: Filmibeat, Film Companion South