Director: Thiagarajan Kumararaja
Direction – spot on, narration – exceedingly well, acting – brilliant. So what’s disappointing in this film? The harsh reality of life director Thiagarajan Kumararaja displays in front of us through this beautifully weird drama. Although ‘Aaranya Kaandam’ wasn’t a commercial success, those who love narration and storytelling would have fallen in love with the way the director winded up the story – that’s his virtuosity. He knows how to bring different stories together; they may not be interconnected but they definitely are pieces of a puzzle and oh, what a beautiful puzzle he has come up with this time – ‘Super Deluxe’ is a sheer masterpiece.
Four different stories, four different lives but what’s one thing common? The fact that life is what it is and every single soul irrespective of gender, cast, variations – we’re all the same. Leela (Ramya Krishnan) is a porn star; Shilpa, also known as Manikkam (Vijay Sethupathi is a transgender woman), Vaembu (Samantha Akkineni) and Mugil (Fahadh Faasil) are a couple not in love yet and three young lads who get into a pickle for something unexpected. The story questions morality (quite opposite to what ‘Aaranya Kaandam’ fathoms), it questions the society, it questions the limits humans unnecessarily create for themselves and finally it questions the chaos humans have created thinking that that’s how reality works.
Four writers – Thiagarajan, Nalan Kumarasamy, Mysskin, Neelan K Sekar – had four different stories to tell. One deals with morality, one with consensual sex, one with acceptance and one with life in general. The underlying reality is simple and that is to accept the fact that we are all the same and that we make our rules, we draw our boundaries and ultimately, we complicate situations.
Samantha as Vaembu is outstanding and easily gives her career-best performance. Her character has layers of depth and she has touched them all. Fahadh was equally good, Ramya Krishnan as Leela, needless to say, is strong yet sensitive and has donned the character very well. Mysskin excels as an actor, too. On the other hand, while Vijay Sethupathi looked like Shilpa he did not quite bring about the complete strength of the character of this struggling transgender woman as much as the story depicted it to be. Overall, Kumararaja has made sure he brought out of all these actors.
The cinematography is clear and well-planned, the screenplay kept the momentum of the story going at a good pace and the background score composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja appeared apt for the storyline. This film maybe censored with an adult certificate but it is definitely something every single individual must watch, learn, accept and move on!
Rating – 4/5
Verdict – Watch it to awaken the inner you!
