Garudan: Mesmerising performance by Soori a valuable takeaway (2024)

[00:00:00] Hi, welcome to Onmanorama Movie Podcast, Start, Action, Cut. Today we are decoding the Tamil movie Garudan directed by Aarice Durai-Sendil Kumar and starring Suri Unnimugantan M. Shashigumar, Shivadhan Aayaran, Samudrakani in lead roles. As far as the movie is concerned, the storyline

[00:00:33] there is nothing much new in the movie which is set in the usual Tamil noir premise. Yet, it's a captivating and engrossing storyline that's what I feel. So today Swati and Anju are joining the discussion. So Anju, what do you say about the movie?

[00:00:54] Padmukumar, so well about the storyline as you said to be honest I also didn't feel anything new or fresh. It kind of felt like the same old story of friendship and betrayal against the backdrop of that famous saying Kanagamulam, Kaamini Mulam, Kalaham Palavidham Ulagil Selabha. So I mean

[00:01:15] I could already sense where this movie was going from the start itself, the beginning of the movie itself and the inspector character which was played by Samudrakani started telling the story but I thought okay maybe there might be something different or some kind of twist.

[00:01:29] Right, I was actually disappointed. There wasn't any kind of newness in the movie and somewhere I kind of felt like this movie had an resemblance to movies like Kodi or Sandhush Subramaniam and movies like that. So in the case of storyline there wasn't anything

[00:01:47] new or anything fresh for me. That's what I felt. Yeah there is nothing new but I would say that I actually enjoyed the movie, I watched it from the beginning till the end without any interruption.

[00:02:01] So Swathi do you two hold the same view as Anju's? Actually no Padmukumar because obviously it has nothing, story wise at least there is nothing new to it but the thing is that

[00:02:13] once I started watching the movie I didn't feel like the movie was dull. It felt like, to me it felt like it had a brisk pace and there was hardly any dull moments in it because from

[00:02:24] the start to finish I didn't do anything. I was actually watching what was unraveling and what was happening. There is nothing new as such like I mentioned before but the thing is something

[00:02:33] about the movie hooks you in. Maybe it's the performance and the way that the movie is taken and obviously Suri and Suri just stands out with this performance. I felt like this is a story

[00:02:44] of an underdog development you're seeing how he becomes the sort of person that he becomes at the end of the movie so he was kind of like a, like he tells himself like Suri's character tells

[00:02:54] in the movie. He's like a dog and the movie sort of shows how it sort of changes into a, his behavior changes into a rabbit kind of nature once it's pushed to the corner and that

[00:03:05] happens in many social settings as well. In that context if you look at it the movie was actually nice. I wouldn't say it was a tiring watch or boring for me obviously like I agree with both

[00:03:16] the few and you guys said that it has nothing new to it but then and this is kind of like kind of a movie that we've seen before but like I said the making and the performance has just

[00:03:26] stood out for me and I think it was a decent watch. So as Swati mentioned earlier so the movie I also kind of felt like the movie was, it started in a pretty slow manner like taking

[00:03:41] its time to introduce us to all the main characters and all. I actually liked that part we get to see the families their backstories how they become friends and all and I felt like that pacing

[00:03:53] was deliberate allowing us to get to know all those characters and understand they're born and the character you know Sokken character was the character was really interesting. I actually liked the character placement of Sokken who was more like a loyal servant to

[00:04:11] Karuna rather than a friend and how he was devoted to Karuna and how he is protective of Karuna those parts were perfectly convincingly showed I like that part but one of the problem that

[00:04:27] I had with the progression is in the character development of Karuna which was played by Pune Mugun then. I mean why did that character turn out the way he did? I didn't understand or I was

[00:04:41] not able to relate to that character because in the beginning of the movie he's so shown as completely different and then he changes into a completely different person. Yes there were some instances

[00:04:55] pointing about his gambling addiction but going from someone who made Sokken a part of his life to someone who didn't hesitate to consider killing his upper thigh was not at all believable to me.

[00:05:11] I kind of feel like the character Karuna was written very in a shallow way but on the other hand Sokken's loyalty and his character, his loyalty to Karuna as well as to Adi's family

[00:05:27] was conveyed perfectly and even there is a dialogue in the final part of the movie where Sokken says they made me part of the family and it is beautifully conveyed. Those were the things that I liked in the movie. One interesting thing that I noticed about

[00:05:45] the plot of the movie is that how similar and I read this somewhere in another review as well that the plot is kind of similar to the story of Karna from Mahabharata and how he remains loyal

[00:05:59] to Duryodhana and according to Mahabharata it's actually the Kauravas is shown to be in the bat light and Karuna is an orphan and here Sokken is also an orphan and he gets adopted in this family

[00:06:16] and then he stands by them and here it's Karuna, he stands by Karuna no matter what. There are times when he feels like he understands that what Karuna is doing might not be right for society as well

[00:06:27] but he still tries to sort of protect him like a loyal servant, like a loyal dog and the transition from being like that to how he reaches towards the end of the movie I really like that progression.

[00:06:42] I think the real character arc development is only for Suri's character I would say because obviously I think Hashi Kumar and Unnimukadhan they did decent performances but somewhere Unnimukadhan's character I felt like that was kind of a misfit because I think he might have

[00:07:00] tried but then there is a sense of authenticity that a character like that needed which I think he lacked but development wise I think it was Suri's character that's throughout and he really got a real development because towards the end we are seeing a completely different version

[00:07:16] of what we see in the start of the movie because initially it might seem like this person is somewhat a little slow paced, he understands things slowly, he just follows orders but

[00:07:29] from that would make his own judgment to come to his own judgment to understand what is right and wrong he reaches that stage so in that way the movie really had a smooth flow is what I felt.

[00:07:41] Yes coming to the characters I think Suri rules the rules and playing a very very loyal I mean a man friday to the karna's character with unwavering loyalty actually this format I feel has appended regular pattern of movie like when you see the hero

[00:08:08] who is having a sidekick and he's meant for comedy and humor but here the sidekick himself is the hero of the movie so that's a new thing there are so many movies which tell stories

[00:08:21] about insane persons but here Suri is different because he can be said to be insane but he has got his justification for his actions he is true he he's truthful and he is immensely powerful

[00:08:40] powerful than anybody else in the movie I mean in this story so I would say that if Vidutalai Suri's previous movie was a better movie in terms of better than this movie in terms of treatment

[00:08:53] and freshness this film I think brings forth his acting prowess further so that is what I feel and Shivada did her best though it was not that moving or relatable she was loud and she did her burst but

[00:09:09] Unnimukundan and Shashi Kumar were average that is what I felt and Samathirakani though had nothing intense or significant to offer he did justice to the role that was given to him

[00:09:21] so I don't think you would agree I don't know if you have detected but there is a stream of subtle comedy there are subtle comical elements which were blended with the storyline and making

[00:09:33] it very interesting but there are there are only a few instances but and they are and they get dissolved in the story very fast so that is what I feel so in terms of comedy I mean

[00:09:47] there isn't you know much comedy I haven't feel like but there has been certain scenes where you know the comedy has been cleverly integrated particularly in the scenes involving that misunderstandings and quickly interactions between the characters even though those are

[00:10:05] very cliche scenes we have seen in so many movies like these misunderstandings those moments kind of felt like a you know a break from the intense theme of the entire movie and and also Suri's portrayal

[00:10:22] of Sukkan he has this unique mannerisms and there is this Vitti Monologues like you know he says when he sees Karuna that was really interesting I mean in a stretch it's a single shot right that was really interesting his ability to balance that balance humor with the characters

[00:10:42] loyalty and seriousness I felt like that added depth to his role and we know Suri is a natural when it comes to comedy and his comedy timing it was really interesting and into it added a you know

[00:10:58] light hearted moments into the entire narrative of the movie that's what I felt yeah I'd like to agree with Patmukumar when he said there is a underlying comedy that runs but I think that

[00:11:10] is in the initial half and yeah it is cleverly integrated but towards the second half you rarely get to see any of it is what I felt and here I like to just add on to what Patmukumar

[00:11:21] said earlier when he said here Suri's character Sukkan is like the sidekick but it's really great to see him you know become the hero because rarely there is a scene where he's in the middle and

[00:11:34] he has these mass scenes he doesn't have much like there are only a very few scenes where he's showing mass and I think that's the brilliance of the movie or at least his character because

[00:11:44] these days there are a lot of movies where a little bit mass and people will just applaud and I think Suri too at this stage in his career he's up for a character who is very you know kind

[00:11:55] of soft-spoken otherwise if he's like if he's gone going into an insane phase he's a different person but otherwise this person's really really soft-spoken he's naive and but the thing is Sukkan's

[00:12:08] character is written with such care is what I felt and all of the dimensions of that character is you know fleshed out in a very decent way since he's a comedy actor people would be expecting

[00:12:19] something serious and he lives up to that expectation right so and I think we have to give credits to the writing as well and Unnim Mugat and like I said he was the for me his performance was

[00:12:31] not so I would say decent but I wouldn't say it was anything great because there was this sense there was this you know tinge of Malayalam accent that was coming in I don't if he's

[00:12:39] I'm not sure if he's the one who's dubbed it I think he's I think he'd up for the movie but there was some kind of a Malayalam slang that was coming in I think that was the problem with

[00:12:48] Shivada's character as well because you know if you watch a lot of Tamil movies you will understand that there is slight difference between how they talk and how they both of them talk. Shashi Kumar again nothing extraordinary but I think he did a decent job other than that

[00:13:03] I think Shivada the other girl also did a really decent job I wouldn't say you know the other girl I forgot her name but I think she did a better performance and yeah that was it about

[00:13:13] performances. Yes and one more thing another remarkable thing about Suri is that he portrayed the character so convincingly through the entire movie so Anju what do you say about his performance

[00:13:25] and and also of the rest of the characters? Yes I agree to you Padma Kumar like if you ask me why one should watch this movie I would say watch it for Suri's performance he was really

[00:13:38] brilliant and Suri has already proven that he can perform Indian's roles in his previous movie like Vidutthelay but in this movie it kind of felt like you know he has done it effortlessly but the same

[00:13:52] time as one of our colleagues mentioned I felt a bit of Kantara influence in the temple scenes where he acts under the influence of a godly presence but still it was convincing I didn't

[00:14:05] felt like you know out of the place or anything it was convincing but other than Suri's performance I was actually okay with other cast performance like as Swati you know mentioned I felt Unni Mukundan's

[00:14:21] performance it was not very convincing to me he didn't seem like a village so-called village Tamil guy his his moments were you know a bit restricted and his dialogue delivery also had a noticeable Malayalam touch you know as Swati mentioned I'm not sure whether he himself dubbed it

[00:14:40] but I kind of feel like it was his voice that I heard so I kind of you know noticed the Malayalam touch to that and coming to Shashi Kumar's character I mean it's nothing new we have seen

[00:14:52] him as the angry young man in so many movies and here also it was the same there was nothing new I actually wish I could see him in much more diverse roles and coming to Shiva she also did a

[00:15:05] decent job especially there was a there was a scene after the first half you know there is a scene outside the police station I kind of liked her performance there and one character that I really

[00:15:17] loved was Winnu the love interest of Soken played by Revati Sharma she actually has you know very less screen space but she makes us remember that character she has done brilliantly

[00:15:30] and you know as for Samudra Kani he also didn't have much to perform I mean anybody else could have done that character and we have seen him in such similar roles in many movies so I clearly

[00:15:43] don't understand why they you know chose to cast him but yeah he was okay so performance wise I think in this movie Suri was brilliant and everybody else was okay they did their part to their best

[00:15:57] that's it yeah and action is a simple part of the movie and action sequences are choreographed in a thrilling and realistic fashion but too much of violence and bloodshed I think I was an

[00:16:11] off-putter what do you say Swati yes Patlu were that something that I noticed as well because there were too many gory maiming you know cutting scenes and I think this is a problem with the

[00:16:23] lot of movies that have come out in the recent times because it's extremely violent to a point where we think are these scenes really necessary in these movies obviously if it's a completely

[00:16:35] violent movie I'm not justifying it maybe it's required but for these kind of movies I don't know what's the point of you just cutting off a hand and just I thought it was extremely

[00:16:45] graphic for Shivada to grab the severe hand and just bring it back all those scenes were really you know like you said off-putting and I think I wouldn't say that it is the case with like I said it is

[00:16:58] the case with just this movie but many other movies as well like I think we had discussion about this in about Maharaja as well extremely violent extremely graphic scenes I think yeah it was kind

[00:17:08] of really off-putting to include that many violent scenes so actually for a quiet sometime I've been staying away from this kind of movie and Padma Kumar made me watch this movie I was not planning too

[00:17:23] much you know these kind of movies with violence and bloodshed for a long time it's been it's been quite some sometime that I've seen such movies and in this movie as Swati mentioned I also

[00:17:34] felt the same like there was you know some gory scenes which would have been avoided action sequence were decent nothing extravagant but I kind of felt like you know those were

[00:17:46] bitter too much for me and there's a particular scene in which you know you know in that fight sequence Adi's character brings a baby to that scene I didn't understand what was the need of

[00:17:59] that why why he bought that baby to an action you know a place where some fight is going to happen and everything that happens after that scene is very gory so yeah I didn't find them bad but

[00:18:12] they weren't extra exactly you know my cup of tea yes Anju I too found it a bit awkward why he brought a kid a small infant to the fight scene so there's there but the camera I think I

[00:18:26] should mention the camera because it meticulously captures the heat and momentum of the drama as well as the essence of the backdrop that aligns with the subject and the seamless editing also

[00:18:40] makes the makes the narrative flow like a gushing stream so what do you like to add anything about the camera actually I kind of felt like the entire movie had a you know brownish kind of stone

[00:18:52] I don't know is it you know for me or somebody else I kind of feel like the entire movie had a brownish stone and I think you know he intentionally added that to match with that you know brick

[00:19:03] field setting and all and I kind of I think I read it somewhere else also so and towards the ending towards the climax you know you can literally see that tone of you know bricks and

[00:19:13] that brownish reddish tone and all I actually like that it's kind of added an intense element to the movie especially towards the climax I actually like that part and music and BGM

[00:19:26] the songs were ordinary but the BGM played a big role in creating a magical aura around the theme throughout the cinematic journey that's what I feel what I found exceptional was the use of

[00:19:39] silence and surround sounds so creatively and also the entry and exit of the background score so I think that made the movie very interesting for me yeah so the music is done by you and Shankar

[00:19:52] Raja so actually I didn't feel that you and Shankar Raja element in this movie not in the songs not in the BGM actually there isn't much songs which was probably a good call but the

[00:20:04] few songs they have also you know it didn't have any kind of impact on the movie you know that's what I felt and background music also you know I kind of felt like some was okay

[00:20:18] you know for some foods it was okay but for the action sequence and all I kind of felt like it wasn't perfect match to match to those scenes you know overall it was like okay

[00:20:31] okay the excess violence and bloodshed as I said earlier was a diameter in this movie and also in the final retribution act in which Suri I mean I'm not giving out a spoiler

[00:20:44] the scene in which Suri and Unimovendan are involved that act that that scene that action sequence was wavering a bit so those are the things that I found could have been avoided one thing I quite didn't understand or something that I found off-putting about the movies that

[00:21:06] the reason why I think this might be a spoiler but the reason why Unimovendan sort of his character sort of turns negative that is not clearly explored you know just one line from his wife

[00:21:17] and he completely turns into this you know goon kind of a person and we don't get to understand why that happens right after you know the after whatever happens with Sashik Kumar's character happens and then this Karuna's character goes into a complete chaos chaotic

[00:21:34] path and that also what happened what was the he there is a scene where he explains why he did all those things but that wasn't quite convincing at all and then again like the violence part

[00:21:46] that could also have been kind of toned down apart from the yeah these are the two things that I found you know a bit off-putting so like you know in the entire movie the best part I liked

[00:21:57] was the dialogue by Suri where he says like you know in the climax Naya irindha emini unni polo rupanshana matthi tangala that dialogue was I mean apt I actually liked because you know it shows the entire character arc of Suckens character and you know you can sum up

[00:22:18] the movie into that dialogue so I like that part the best there cannot be anything very outstanding in this movie but it's a it's a watchable movie for Suri's performance and the agile making of the

[00:22:29] movie and that brings us to the end of this episode thanks for listening to start action cut produced and hosted by me Patmugamar with technical production by idea brew studios follow www.onmanorama.com for more podcasts on movies and be sure to come back for the

[00:22:46] next episode of start action cut that will be out on the next Monday thank you