My Musings

#Theatres

Language – Tamil

Year of release – 2026

Cast – Sananth, Rishikanth, Keerthy Suresh

Trigger warning – Violence, gore, sexual assault, bad language

Plot – Karthi and Subbu become close friends in school when Karthi is beaten up by some of the senior boys in school and Subbu comes to his rescue. This welds a close bond between the two boys. Karthi is a meek, soft and gentle boy brought up by his mother. Subbu on the other hand is aggressive, bad mouthing young boy brought up in a household of aggressive and hyper masculine men. His father Whistle Veeraiah is a merciless moneylender who exploits everyone. Subbus brothers are gangsters who run a gang of men who don’t think twice before killing or maiming anyone. They spend their day’s cock-fighting or fighting the local men.

As they grow into adulthood, Karthi becomes the more aggressive one and Subbu softens down. But they continue on their rampage of terrorising the townspeople. This changes when Subbu’s brother brings Dorothy home as his wife. Dorothy comes in like a fresh, gentle breeze into this violent household and instantly bonds with Subbu.  Subbu  now prefers spends more time with her and enjoys doing housework much to Karthi’s irritation. Dorothy brings a quiet gentleness, an angel among the devils.

All hell breaks loose when Dorothy dies under suspicious circumstances and Subbu’s life turns upside down. Everything falls apart around Karthi and Subbu and they have to pick up the pieces and flip their world around completely.

This movie is set in the late 80’s Madurai. You don’t know the year but there are many references thrown that suggest its from that time frame. Whistle Veeraiah runs a household of men who are extremely aggressive and violent. He is the local moneylender/ gangster and he is feared by the people around him. Growing up among this violence, Subbu too, as a child, normalises violence. He normalises so many aspects of toxic masculinity and readily teaches them to Karthi. Dorothy, on the other hand, is a gentle, soft spoken Malayali girl who tries to soften and create a home in this household. She has a huge influence on Subbu and there are so many aspects of her that he reflects back.

When I started writing this review, I felt that this movie was layered and there were so many significant aspects that I could not capture without revealing the plot and giving away spoilers. I have tried as much as possible to not say much but here are some observations  that I would like every person watching this movie, to pay attention to.

The actors – Every single one of them deliver their roles beyond ones imagination. When one settles to a certain character portrayal, something happens and they end up completely changing that perception and creating an image on the screen that stays in your mind for a long time to come. Karthi starts off as a meek, gentle and soft boy who gets thoroughly influenced by his environment and transforms into this aggressive male chauvinist for whom his masculinity becomes his personality and identity. Subbu on the other hand starts off as aggressive and street smart and mellows into his character as he grows older and the thing that stands out here is how Subbu’s character arc hugely influences Karthi’s. And this influence causes Karthi to go through his confusion, his breaking down in terms of his personality and finally accepting himself and Subbu for what they are. You see Subbu reminding of the softness and gentleness of nature that Karthi does not understand until it is pointed out to him. Toxic masculinity steals his humanity and hollows him out to the point that he stops seeing people for who they are but sees their actions and personalities as the only truth. This is especially visible when he is in Whistle Veeraiah’s presence. His hatred and his need to please him in equal measure constantly jostle for space.

Subbu starts off feeling confused about his family and their aggression and is unsure if they are good people or not but accepts them as normal. In fact, as a child, he is almost nonchalant about the manner in which his sister and mother die. It’s almost a disconnected attitude that he probably picked up from his father, Whistle Veeraiah. His brothers and the other gangsters in the house almost make him immune to the violence and aggression he sees in the household. But when Dorothy enters his life, he is reminded of all the softer qualities that could exist alongside the violence. He is introduced to household chores that he realises he enjoys most! His conversations with Dorothy form the crux of his existence and her untimely and suspicious death breaks him to the point of him having to break every aspect of his personality and emerge as a new person!

Dorothy is the angel who also is the catalyst in the movie. She comes in to a household under strange circumstances and nothing is really mentioned as to what her background is and how she managed to marry Subbu’s brother and come and live in Madurai from her native, Kerala. But what she brings to the household and especially her influence on Subbu is the most endearing as well as a stark display of a quiet confidence and strength.

Whistle Veeraiah is the antagonist who is eerie and very menacing with just his presence. He is so deeply entrenched in misogyny and hyper masculinity that women cannot exist in his presence. He uses women and makes it abundantly clear that his family honour is above everything else and will go to any length to preserve that, even if it means killing his own son.

All other characters support the main cast in their respective roles and each of them have been crafted so well and with so much detail. Their dialogues and their actions cement the storyline and bring the main characters to the fore.

The cinematography –S. Thirunavukarasu is the DOP and his art needs special mention. He uses a reverse technique of showing the timelines in different colours. Usually visuals of the past are shown in sepia or black and white and the present is shown in colour but here, he reverses that and shows the present in monochromatic colours and the past in colour.

There is a shot where he keeps the camera in one place and the fight sequence happens in front but there are moments when the actors are fighting outside the camera frame and you can only hear them. The actors moving in and out of the frame is such a visually captivating scene. Another brilliantly shot scene is the single continuous shot that lasts for about 4-5 minutes where there is no break in the sequence and the camera pans across the scene and goes back and forth between the actors and the scene. There is a scene where the camera’s focus stays on the large rocky hill while the characters walk to the edge of the screen during their dialogue. The visual statement of how insignificant we and our problems seem in the larger scheme of affairs. Such detailing in the cinematography is possible only when the creator is an artist par excellence.

There are also many instances of juxtaposition of some elements in a scene that bring out the irony of the situation as well as gives us, the audience an opportunity to actually reflect on what we are seeing. For example, there is a scene with a trans person who is asking Subbu to be strong in difficult times and the poster in the background is of Raymond! Another instance of the irony of the situation is the scene where Subbu is hungry and tries to beg for money but is shooed away and a man walks up to Subbu and asks Subbu to bless their daughter for an exam. And pays Subbu for it. The social commentary is extremely hard to miss.

The music – What can one say when the Maestro himself creates the BGMs as well as the songs for the movie. Muthumani is my all time favourite followed by Yethum Illai and Onna Thottu. The background scores are upbeat and haunting at times. There is a beautiful fusion of western and classical music in How Else to Name It? is a modified music from an earlier Illayaraja classic! The music adds that extra spice to the visuals you see on the screen.

The direction & story – Coming to Karthik Subbaraj all we can say is, here is a Director with his heart in the right place!His ability to bring forth a story that encompasses so many social issues and leaves us all teary eyed and fulfilled at the same time. From addressing every evil that patriarchy perpetuates in our society to finding some humour in those situations to also finding a human connection in this chaos, Karthik Subbaraj does all of this and more. He uses his name for the lead in probably his own way of showing that each of us have a Karthi and a Subbu inside us! It is up to us whom we nurture and bring to the fore!

This movie definitely gets a 10/10 from me!