‘Soppana Sundari’ movie review: Three women pack a punch in this simple and neat entertainer – The Hindu

A ‘Thirukkural’ by Thiruvalluvar that goes, “ Natuvindri Nanporul Veqkin Kutipondrik Kutramum Aangae Tharum,” is written on the entrance and rear windshield of a automotive round which Soppana Sundari revolves. The couplet says that if one covets one other man’s belonging in an unjust method, he would perish whereas additionally taking his household down with him. And because the title of the film suggests (it’s an ode to Goundamani-Senthil’s crackling comedy from the 1989 movie Karakattakkaran in regards to the possession of Soppana Sundari’s automotive), the various characters of this movie declare possession of this one automotive that belongs to none of them, solely to seek out themselves in a weird sequence of mishaps.

Agalya (Aishwarya Rajesh), a younger girl from a lower-middle-class household, alongside together with her mom Lakshmi (Deepa Shankar) and her speech-impaired elder sister Thenmozhi (Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli), will get the shock of a lifetime by Naresh (Sathish Krishnan). Naresh, the gross sales supervisor of a jewelry store referred to as SGC Jewellers, informs her that she has received a crimson Suzuki Swift, that prices ten lakhs, as part of a fortunate draw contest. The brand-new automotive, trying in distinction to their modest dwelling, is now the one hope for the impoverished household that makes use of the automotive as a dowry to get Thenmozhi married off to a well-off man (Shah Ra).

As we realise later, Agalya additionally works at SGC Jewellers and it’s her estranged brother Durai (performed by Karunakaran) who buys jewelry to get the coupon, just for him to see Agalya and throw the coupon at her, which she fills in together with her particulars. When he, alongside together with his annoying spouse and her brother Hazard Mama (Mime Gopi), comes to say possession of the automobile, the three girls put up a struggle in an amusing, well-choreographed slow-motion motion scene. Issues take fairly a number of turns when the cops are concerned; the automotive will get seized, the possession of the automotive will get questioned, Inspector Kannan (Sunil Reddy) lusts after Agalya, Durai and his gang have their very own share of secrets and techniques to cover, and to make issues worse, we’re additionally advised that the automotive was concerned in a serious crime, one that may put all of them behind bars.

SG Charles’ sophomore directorial leans quite a bit on its witty one-liner and a crystal clear screenplay written with conviction, however it’s the quirky remedy that makes it complete. Everybody cheats on everybody in Soppana Sundari as a result of deceit is the one means to freedom of their now-chaos-filled world, and the sophisticated conditions that these characters discover themselves in pave means for some actually good darkish comedy. Actually, the humour of Soppana Sundari may be likened quite a bit to Nelson-Nayanthara’s Kolamaavu Kokila, which additionally had a lower-middle-class lady caught in a quagmire being pushed to the intense to save lots of her household. And with the presence of Deepa Shankar, Sunil Reddy, Bjorn Surrao, and Redin Kingsley (who performs a person masquerading because the automotive’s unique proprietor), reminiscing on Nelson-Sivakarthikeyan’s Physician is inevitable. And Deepa is clearly the queen of comedy right here; be careful for a hilarious scene about her husband’s kidney.

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After a swift and enjoyable first half, the second half finds Charles’s screenplay reaching a brand new excessive after we see how the monetary state of affairs of the household doesn’t lend any likelihood to flee, and the way they wrestle to get from one level to the opposite; fortunately, Agalya appears to have a variety of concepts in her thoughts. Sadly, the screenplay stumbles to discover a seamless decision to untie all its knots. The largest of them is the writing of a scene by which the Inspector of Police, Kannan, takes a helpless Agalya to a lodge to forcibly sleep together with her. There she says, “I’d get married sometime and it wouldn’t look good if I voluntarily lose my virginity to you; it’s greatest should you simply rape me.” You learn that proper, and simply as one fears that this movie would find yourself shaming rape victims and looking out down on pre-marital intercourse, the movie finds redemption. But, one wonders if this scene, its writing and staging, and the roundabout decision it results in, have been the best way to go. Couldn’t there be something extra in tune with the tone of the movie to ship a bang earlier than the climax? For a movie that has three girls packing fairly a punch, such flip of occasions may be buzzkill.

Most likely, the one good factor that arises out of the scene is a ‘mass’ second for Agalya, a personality that’s been fairly spectacular together with her masterful schemes. It’s a constructive signal to see an A-list actor like Aishwarya give her all to a movie that has many different characters taking their rightful house and to a movie that appears smaller in scale — when it comes to visuals and locales — than her routine.

Aishwarya Rajesh in a nonetheless from ‘Soppana Sundari’
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association

Let’s say you discover ten lakhs in your account by likelihood or uncover a useful treasure by pure luck; would you or wouldn’t you, a minimum of for a second, want to maintain it? The complexities of human wishes have at all times made for good drama, and centring a darkish comedy like this on an ill-fated, impoverished household preventing for an opportunity to climb the social ladder does assist in writing relatable characters with broad strokes. However for all the simple messaging with the ‘Thirukkural,’ if solely the characters delved extra into this intriguing side of the human situation, and the third act have them realise the pangs of need a bit extra seamlessly, Soppana Sundari would have been a stable watch.

Soppana Sundari is presently operating in theatres

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