By Kishoo, Barkur
Udupi, Aug 7: J P Thuminad’s ‘Su from So’ dropped right into the salty humid world of coastal Karnataka’s Marlur village, and honestly, it easily could have been Barkur. So it felt like coming home, because the characters especially Shaneel Gautham’s charismatic Raviyanna and Sandhya Arakere’s quietly powerful Bhanu - reminded me of people I have actually met. There is something about the way they talk, the Mangaluru Kannada rolling out of their tongues, that just clicks. S Chandrasekaran’s photography vividly captures my place in its full glory, every shot seems to breathe with the place’s essence.
The whole supernatural angle with Ashoka (Thuminad himself) getting possessed by Sulochana’s spirit is actually pretty clever. What could have been just another horror-comedy set up becomes a sharp lens for examining how villages deal with –or do not deal with- men who step outside expected boundaries. The resultant chaos that unfolds is a pure laugher riot. Raj B Shetty’s cameo as the spiritual leader, the mannerisms of Deepak Rai Panaje, Prakash Thuminad had me laughing out loud. I would want to watch it at least one more time if not more.
Where the film really succeeds is in how it handles the social commentary without being preachy about it. The way it pokes at slut-shaming and mob mentality feels organic, like conversations you might overhear at a tea stall. It understands rural India’s contradictions- the warmth alongside the judgment, the traditions both preserve and constrain.
The ending left me a bit unsatisfied, although I cannot quite put my finger on why. The film diagnoses all these patriarchal problems with surgical precision, but when it comes to solutions? Bhanu gets a symbolic victory rather than real agency. It is still men saving women, even if those men are allies. I kept waiting for the female characters to grab the power for themselves, not just receive protection from well-meaning guys.
Sometimes the humor feels like it is doing a lot of the heavy lifting when deeper analysis might have served better. The film ribs Brahmanical hierarchies and social structures, but gently –like it is afraid to really dig in and make people uncomfortable. May be that is strategic for reaching wider audiences, but it also means missing chances for more radical commentary.
Another thing I am disappointed with, is that it is the current trend, and I do not know if anyone really understand my concern here. It is about Sumedh K’s soundtrack and I am really torn about it. Some tracks are perfect-like the anthem in the making ‘bhava bandaro’- they make Marlur feel alive, like the music is growing out of the coconut palms and winding roads. But then suddenly you are hit with house music and techno and it is just not matching. I get that maybe everyone out there wants to show off their musical prowess or show how even small towns aren’t isolated from global cultures, but it feels random than intentional. The genre hopping –reggae, pop, techno, gabber, drum and bass- it’s like someone threw a dart at a music charts. It disconnects you from authentic setup that the film painstakingly tries to build. It just feels over the top.
‘Su from So’ knows its world intimately, perhaps too well. It is like visiting a place you love but also recognizing its flaws – you end up being protective rather than critical. The film welcomes you in, makes you laugh loudly, gets you thinking, but it will not push you hard enough to make you truly uncomfortable with status quo. It is a brilliant debut that shows real promise, even if it plays things safer than I hoped it would.