Cast: Suriya, Trisha Krishnan, RJ Balaji, Natty Subramaniam, Ssivada, Indrans, Swasika, Anagha Maya Ravi, Mansoor Ali Khan, George Maryan and Namo Narayanan
Director: RJ Balaji
Music director: Sai Abhyankkar
Rating- 2.5/5
Synopsis: When judiciary system gets corrupt, the god himself takes things into his hands and cleans it up
Suriya's Karuppu hit the screens on Friday morning after several financial hassles. Fans of Suriya were upset and furious about the setback the film had to go through. The audience was intrigued to see how director RJ Balaji would handle a star like Suriya and cater to his huge fanbase.
The film opens with a robbery in north Chennai and the case passes on to police and then the court. The system is corrupt and people pray to the deity, Vettai Karuppu in the court premise. Intolerant to all the injustice happening inside the campus that is dominated by lawyer Baby Kannan (RJ Balaji), Karuppu appears in human form as lawyer Saravanan (Suriya). Suriya is introduced to us almost nearly half an hour after the film opens. Until then its RJ Balaji’s show as a director an as Baby Kannan the lawyer. We are also introduced to Preethi (Trisha Krishnan), the lawyer of opposition, whose character arc gets a smooth elevation as the film progresses.
From then on, the story picks up pace in the first half as Suriya and the writing elevates the scene. Karuppu’s biggest plus is its comedy as the film predominantly spoofs Tamil films such as Aayutha Ezhuthu, Jai Bhim, even Ilaiyaraaja’s royalty. They have been placed in perfect situations and this has been RJ Balaji’s forte since his radio jockey days. The interval block has been done thoughtfully and ends the first half on a high note to what began as an otherwise usual film.
The second half though starts off well loses steam. No, the story doesn’t lose direction. In a story of mix and match, the mixes do not match well. It gets tad too boring with a predictable story that has been stretched long. Along with the story, the music, and performances start feeling monotonous as characters fail to hold the film. There is commercial value, emotions, humour and good performances. But they are all short-lived as nothing creates an impact except for Suriya as the saving grace. In fact, Karuppu was a good opportunity for him to do another dual role film and would have kept the premise interesting. Those who watched the film could give it a thought. While the story is predictable, the dialogues are strong enough to keep us seated (not on the edge though). They were illogical and intolerable in a few scenes too.
Karuppu is surely a daring attempt but could have been executed well. RJ Balaji has shown us what really happens in the judiciary system and how the general public are taken for granted. However, the climax of the film with a strong message has only helped us not to write us off the film. But Karuppu as a concept had a lot of potential and could have been explored better.
The technical aspects provide treats for well written scenes but become a passable affair in several scenes with mediocre writing. Sai Abhyankkar shines in places where the screenplay doesn’t. Songs are also on point and aren't too loud. In a progressing industry that is inching towards a smart audience, we could say Karuppu is a film that comes with a formula of possibly working in B and C centres of audience. Overall, Karuppu is more of RJ Balaji and should have been more of Suriya. The movie still can be commercially viable but is just another ordinary outing.