Now Premiering - Soorarai Pottru/Akaasam Nee Haddura

Soorarai Pottru / Akaasam Nee Haddura – Mounts up sky high respect and has a special place in the heart by unveiling one touching sequence after another.

Sudha Kongara is one of the directors who has a very potent and strong voice for her stories and characters. “The Troops of Rebellion” could just be the title for it if she ever makes crossovers for those characters. She sets apart from her tone of dealing with the same story, same conflict and same closure with a sassy as well as spicy interaction among her characters. This film is no different, but, a more matured Writing ( Script and Screen ), Directing. The cohesive nature of the crafts, mainly – fantastic cinematography by Niketh Bommi, subtle music by G.V.Prakash and balanced edit by Sathish Suriya indicate the all-round distinction, ultimately contributing to the big picture.

 We for sure have the rebels here, not just 2 ( like in Irudhi Sutturu/Guru) or 3, but around 6 to 7 who let themselves in and out of the plot. The rebels who stay the most as a whole are Maara ( played extraordinarily by Suriya. Actor's biggest accomplishment is you just don’t see Suriya anymore, it’s just Maara all the way) and Bommi ( Aparna Balamurali the greatest finds in the film). The way they meet is also an Oxymoron and satirical scenario. Imagine a Matchmaking proposal where the Bride-to-be comes across the bridegroom for the first time when he’s scruffily flexing few indie-dance moves for a “Saavu Dappu”. Imagine both of them instead of talking about their future together end up discussing their business proposals – “Baby Bakery” and “Deccan Airline”. As Bommi rightly puts it afterwards that both of them are already married to their Ideas before they marry anyone, so let this Premarital Married Life (as awry it may sound) succeed before they even talk of the actual tieing-the-knot.

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It takes some real courage to write such scenes with 2 hotheads and their families, nothing over-bloated or sugar-coated with just the amount of whiff for the village sand and rustic flavour. This is one of the many such contrasting and hitting episodes. The movie mounts up sky-high respect and has a special place in the heart by unveiling one touching sequence after another. Take for instance the sequence before the title even appears. There’s chaos, there’s a downfall of The Airline, a man is stretching all his hands beyond limits to catch some rays of success. Yet, there is a crash landing. A plume of smoke which engulfs him and his company amidst which he is at gunpoint – just like a criminal in front of his very own flight, the polar opposite to where he should be. A blackout and we get – “Soorarai Pottru/Akaasam Nee Haddura”.

 

Now, let’s talk about the rebels which steal the show - M. Bhaktavatsalam Naidu – the chain-smoking egoistic and head-weighted Air force Leader played by Mohan Babu is a fulfilment. For training an egoist like Maara, you need a much bigger figure than Maara himself, and Mohan Babu is just that. His experience completely resonates with his guise. Moreover, Mohan Babu’s character and all the other rebels have a mind of their own which is ticking for a Decision to be made and are not just “Be like a hothead and pay no heed”. Also, where can you see a very comical character, played by the Innocently poker-faced Karunas have a moment of emotion. A moment of a proper meltdown when he gives up every standing rupee he procured for his entire life so that Maara succeeds, Deccan Airlines succeed. Only to know that the actual amount required is approx. 5000 times greater.

 

These are the moments that stay, the moments that create a revelation for such engaging storytelling and screenplay. A well-written story never runs out of options for furthering the story, instead, it creates opportunities from its characters and Soorarai Pottru is yet another textbook example of it. The moments and/or rebels which just don’t stay are the characters of Paresh Rawal as Paresh Goswami and his team of scammers along with Balayya ( Vijay Mallya ).

 

They too are textbook examples of something generic- How a Villain & Co. Should be and What a Villain & Co. Should do? ( a condensed form of Jagapathi Babu’s villainy from last week’s Miss India). They could have always been that in a movie operating in a different space, a space more bloated, sugar-coated and flimsy in definition ( you know where I’m getting to ), but not in a movie like this. What happens ultimately is the flight of the movie is overburdened by Characters, is out of fuel and the plot just taxying around and around the same narrative. The first half’s ordeals are almost similar to the second half. It’s like the movie out spools its screenplay, just without flashbacks. Your fabric of emotional response is wrung out by the repeated – emotionally sucking stretches.

 

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That’s not to say that it’s unapologetically damaged, there are other areas where the movie could have been lost in its transition and translation, No.1 among them being the dubbing ( as I also Watched the Telugu Version ). This, thankfully saved as the voiceovers are just apt. Especially Satyadev lending his vocals for Suriya is just the perfect fix. I just realised the way they have the controlled talk and breathe is so similar, also it reminded me of Satyadev’s diction in Bluff Master, where again,  Uttam Kumar is a rebel, but not the Sudha Kongara type, but a Puri Jagannadh type –indicating the translation and transition is intact.

 

Watch Soorarai Pottru and/or Akaasam Nee Haddura this Diwali, as it’s a rarity to get an OTT release which would induce thoughts like "God, I wish I watched this movie in a theatre!". You’ll end up heart-heavy and with a wide smile on your face – Just like Pechi’s (Urvashi’s) expression.