Retro
is
probably
Surya’s
worst
film
till
date,
declares
A
Ganesh
Nadar.
Let’s
start
off
by
saying
that
Retro
—
short
for
‘Retrogarde’
—
makes
absolutely
no
sense.
After
playing
powerful
roles
as
Air
Deccan
founder
Captain
Gopinath
(Soorarai
Pottru)
and
the
fearless
Judge
Chandru
(Jai
Bhim),
Surya
is
reduced
to
performing
like
a
puppet
in
Retro,
who
dances
and
fights
at
the
puppeteer’s
will.
Director
Karthik
Subbaraj
had
the
best
talent
in
the
business
—
in
Surya,
Pooja
Hegde,
Shriya
Saran,
Nassar,
Prakash
Raj
and
the
irrepressible
Jairam
—
but
he
has
wasted
them
all.
Retro
is
set
in
the
Andaman
Nicobar
islands.
An
overlord
(Nassar
reduced
to
a
caricature
of
a
gangster,
who
goes
through
the
entire
movie
drinking
and
mumbling)
is
surrounded
by
slaves,
who
have
to
fight
among
themselves
to
entertain
him.
But
the
weapons
are
made
from
rubber
so
nobody
gets
hurt!
Then
there
is
a
gang
of
smugglers,
who
try
to
smuggle
goldfish
out
of
India.
We
are
later
told
that
the
goldfish
are
not
fish
but
something
else.
Prakash
Raj
is
a
corrupt
politician
as
well
as
a
gangster
smuggler.
But
nothing
in
the
movie
makes
him
out
to
be
a
smuggler,
gangster
or
politician.
Staring
angrily
at
people
doesn’t
make
you
scary,
but
this
talented
actor
is
reduced
to
just
that.
Pooja
Hegde
looks
stunning
but
her
expressions
don’t
connect
with
what
is
happening
on
screen.
Shriya
Saran
goes
from
a
Rajinikanth
heroine
to
an
item
dancer.
Music
Director
Santosh
Narayanan
has
decided
that
all
the
songs,
whatever
the
occasion
is,
must
be
dance-worthy.
So
whether
the
situation
is
happy
or
sad,
right
in
the
middle
of
an
emotional
scene
or
a
violent
fight,
we
have
dance
sequences.
The
fight
scenes
lack
imagination.
Henchmen
fling
themselves
at
our
hero
but
bounce
off
in
different
directions.
In
one
scene,
our
hero
says,
‘I
am
getting
bored
of
fighting
the
same
group
of
people
everyday.
I
thrashed
them
yesterday
and
today
you
are
telling
me
to
fight
them
again?’
Because
of
the
thoughtful
rubber
weapons,
there
is
no
bloodshed
even
though
there
are
a
hundred
fights.
The
villain
locks
up
a
temple
and
the
seers
say
the
temple
will
open
only
when
a
child
is
born
with
a
‘Vel
spear’
on
his
body.
So
the
hero
has
to
be
born
and
grow
up
and
then
take
on
the
villain,
who
waits
for
him.
The
story
goes
that
Surya
and
Pooja
meet
in
their
childhood
at
the
Varanasi
Ghats.
Fourteen
years
later,
they
meet
again
and
fall
in
love.
Pooja
wants
a
peaceful
husband
but
Surya
is
an
ace
fighter,
brought
up
by
a
smuggler
dad.
His
real
father
is
an
innocent
slave
on
the
Andaman
island.
Surya
arrives
at
the
island,
not
to
fight
battles
or
open
closed
temples.
He
goes
there
to
find
his
lost
love,
who
works
as
a
veterinary
doctor.
Surya
acts
as
a
doctor,
who
is
spearheading
laughter
therapy.
Strangely,
he
doesn’t
smile
in
the
entire
movie,
until
he
gets
his
love
back.
Jairam
is
reduced
to
a
comedy
doctor,
and
this
is
the
man
who
was
once
said
to
be
competition
to
Mammootty
and
Mohanlal.
Retro
is
probably
Surya’s
worst
film
till
date.
One
really
hopes
that
he
goes
back
to
enacting
real
life
characters
in
biopics.
Retro
Review
Rediff
Rating:
