Movie Review : Dorothy

 Karthi ( Rishikanth) and Subbu ( Sananth) are childhood friends. Over time their friendship grows even more solid.  Subbu enjoys the maternal affection of Karthi's mom, a single parent,  as his own mother and sister are dead. Karthi is influenced by the maculine traits, bravado and violence of Subbu's father (Muthukumar ) and elder brother (Soundarajan).

But one day, in a curious change of circumstances, much against his will, Karthi is sent out to kill his best friend Subbu, at the behest of his own father.

What circumstances led to this situation? Why is Subbu's family baying for his blood? Does  Karthi share their anger against his best friend? Does he succeed in killing Subbu?

The film, Karthik Subbaraj's 10th, is set in a period setting in Madurai and showcases the violence, sense of patriarchy and rawness, long associated with the place as shown in Tamil cinema over the years.  The actors Rishikanth and Subbu bring out this  machoism and rawness with every  fight they indulge in, the people they beat up and the language they use coupled with their wild lifestyle, which is deeply ingrained since childhood.

Muthukumar as Subbu's father in an excellent act, is almost unrecognisable, so different is his get -up and body language as the vile, controlling, casteist family head who rules with an iron hand and enjoys his stranglehold on the villager's lives by way of loans he gives them. Soundar his old son is his nurtured in his image and have no remorse. 

When Dorothy ( Keerthy Suresh) enters the family, things change, for Subbu develops a bond with her. Keerthy plays her part with an imnocence and freshness, displaying superbly the gentleness and understanding in a pivotal role that is catalyst for many changes in Subbu's life. 

The  camerawork by ace DOP,  Thirunavukarasu is simply excellent, with many timeless, quiet frames that give the feel of watching ir being inside a painting, and the visuals are a major plus for this film. 

The BGM of maestro Ilayaraja is exemplary in setting the moods and twists in the screenplay.

Locations take on a  character of their own , more so in the second half. Kudos to the set design and art work team for bringing a slice of the local flavour of the region on screen so splendidly.

Sananth delivers an exemplary performance, as friend, son and later as he undergoes changes in the second half. He walks a fine balance and at no point does he do anything that would makes his role a cariacature. He handles 2 aspects of his role with great maturity and finesse, which helps immensely in driving home the director's message in the film. 

Rishikanth delivers yet another terrific performance after his recent hit, Modha Rathri, simply living his role as Karthik. Be it the fights, raw action blocks and later the crucial scenes in the lorry  with Subbu in the second half , the actor is raw, real, intense and gets into the skin of the character in a brilliant performance.

The two child actors deserve special mention for their performances.

But there is a tad too much violence with men mostly shown  as violent,conniving and exploitative.

The  end towards the climax seems rushed with too many things and changes happening all at once,not giving much time to Karthik, Subbu and the audience to absorb and react.  That somehow makes the ending seem a tad rushed and contrived, in order to drive home more  deeply, a social message the director is trying to deliver.

The film is a well designed non -linear screenplay which builds up tension and suspense, takes the viewer on a rollercoaster of emotions, perspective and twists, superb casting, aided by superb music, visuals and brilliant performances, with  a contemporary social message at its core.

Rating 3/5

Cast:

Keerthy Suresh

Rishikanth

Sananth

Ramachandran Durairaj

Gajaraj

Jeeva Subramanian

Muthukumar

🎬 Crew

Director: Karthik Subbaraj

Story: Karthik Subbaraj, Saravanan Chandran

Producers: Jyoti Deshpande, Guneet Monga Kapoor, Achin Jain

Executive Producer: Pavan Narendra

Music: Ilaiyaraaja

Cinematography: S. Thirru / S. Thirunavukkarasu

Editor: Ganesh Siva

Production Designer: Kumar Gangappan

Costume Designer: Praveen Raja

Stunt Choreographer: Dinesh Subbarayan

Dance Choreographer: M. Sherif

Sound Design: S. Alagia Koothan, G. Suren