Surya S/o Krishnan - Review

Oscar Films' latest Tamil movie Varanam Ayiram with Surya has been brought out in Telugu as Surya s/o Krishnan by SVR Media. Surya, who has become popular among the Telugu audiences with his Gajini has played dual roles as a 60-year-old father and as the 17-year-old son.

Krishnan (Surya) and Malini (Simran) had a love marriage. They have an elder son Surya (Surya) and a younger daughter. Surya unable to complete his engineering due to his chivalrous activities, returns home after the course. During the journey he comes across Meghna (Sameera Reddy) and immediately proposes to her taking inspiration from his father. But Meghna refuses as she does not believe in love at first sight and tells him that love begins after friendship. However, Surya finds Meghna's house only to know that she is leaving for the US for post-graduation. He gets depressed,but goes home to fulfill the responsibility of building a home for his aged parents. When he expresses his wish to see Meghna, Krishnan agrees to his abroad trip. He gets the Visa for three months as he had boldly expressed his intentions to the embassy officials.

Surya lands at Berkeley University and Meghna is surprised at his commitment. They fall in love, but unfortunately before their return to India, Meghna dies in a blast. Unable to forget her, Surya gets addicted to smoking, liquor and drugs. Malini advises him to go far away and find his real self to overcome the depression. Surya heads to Kashmir and then to Delhi. On learning that a small boy was kidnapped for Rs 2 crore ransom, he rescues him. After his return, another girl called Priya (Divya Spandana), a close friend of his sister, proposes to him But Surya having made up his mind joins the Army and soon becomes a Major. At the same time, Krishnan suffers from throat cancer and Surya unable to see his agony, goes away from him. Finally Krishnan dies, but Surya a committed soldier completes the mission of rescuing a girl.On his return, Surya cremates Krishnan, though his memories haunt him. Malini consoles him that life has to go on whether someone is there with us or not.

PLUS: Surya has excelled in his performance both as father and as son. While on one hand he appears old with a lean body as the father, on the other hand he has a fresh and young look as a17-year-old son first and then with six-pack body as a army man. Not only with regard to the physique, but also in showing various emotions, Surya has done a good job. He excels in the roles of both the father suffering from cancer and the disillusioned lover. Sameera Reddy is good as his lover and has not resorted to any unnecessary exposure. Divya Spandana is spotted as the girl next-door. Simran has compiled all her experience in playing Surya's mother's role. The director's ability in showing the montage during Krishnan and Malini love affair is impressive. Camera work by Ratnavelu is excellent while Harris Jayaraj's tunes are okay.

MINUS: The unnecessary dragging of scenes especially after the death of Sameera Reddy tests the audiences' patience of. In spite of the classic narrative style, the film lacks the real ingredients. The screenplay is quite stagnant and will make the audiences uncomfortable. Tunes by Harris Jayaraj have the Tamil style. Though the director has tried his best to portray the human emotions, they are not just digestible for the Telugu audiences. The love between Divya and Surya is also not properly established.

REMARKS: The film has been said to be a tribute to Gautham Menon's father as indicated in the end but has turned out to be a tame affair. One can understand the angst of losing a parent, but trying to prepare a subject exclusively with the same theme would not gel well with the audiences. Any idea that comes from the mind of the director should aim to impress the audiences. Mere preparation to force the idea may not do well always.

Cast: Surya, Sameera Reddy, Simran, Divya Spandana and others

Credit: Camera – Ratnavelu, Editing – Anthony, Music – Harris Jayaraj, Art – Rajeevan, Producer – Sobharani, Story, screenplay and direction – Gautham Menon.

Banner: SVR Media and Oscar Films Ltd

Released on: November 14, 2008