The great Shakespeare once said, “The whole world is a stage, and all the men and women merely actors, they have their exits and their entrances”.

Super Deluxe perfectly suits the above-stated quote in every way possible. Wonder why and how? Well, you need to sit through the entire movie till the end to know the reason since I don’t want to mess with the epicness of the movie with a spoiler. What makes this movie different from others is that Thiagarajan Kumararaja eccentrically unfolds the story and decides to reserve the moral message in the climax. You get to know that you have encountered a cinematic gem that leaves an emotional mark on you once the closing credit starts rolling.

Needless to say, there are very few movies made in India which break convention and tell stories in subtle undertones – Super Deluxe is one of those movies. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Thiagarajan Kumararaja and Vijay Sethupathi gifted Tamil cinema an impeccable game-changer. The movie is an epitome of supreme cinematography, one which I experienced after so long. 

The direction and screenplay of the movie are done exceptionally by Thiagarajan Kumararaja. If I were to sum up the plot, it goes something like this – A newly-wed wife wants to get rid of the dead body of her ex-boyfriend, an estranged father returns home, an angry son despises his mother and a religious man who has now lost his faith in God all face their various torments on one fateful day. Sounds intriguing, right? Now let’s unfold the story in detail.

The movie comprises four different stories that are loosely connected.

The story begins with Vaembu (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) having sex with her ex-boyfriend – who dies of natural causes in her apartment during sex. Vaembu then seeks help from her husband Mugilan (Fahadh Faasil) who is angry but agrees to help her in disposing of the body on the condition that they get a divorce after this mess ends.

The story then shifts to four teenage boys who want to try their hands with porn, who discover that the leading lady (Ramya Krishnan) of the porn movie (titled Mallu Uncut) happens to be the mother of one of them. The shocked son reacts with anger and frustration and runs to kill his mother in rage, but ends up hurting himself.

The third story is about Shilpa (Vijay Sethupathi), who returns home after several years to meet their wife Jothi (Gayathri) and son Rasukutty (Ashwanth Ashokkumar), but leaves everyone stunned in the family as she now identifies as a woman.

The movie picks up the pace with the fourth story where a man once tried to commit suicide but becomes a priest named Arputham (Myshkin) as he believes that God saved him from a tsunami that killed millions of people. Later on, he loses his belief in God when he gets a reality check

There are very few movies made in India which break convention and tell stories in subtle undertones – Super Deluxe is one of those movies.

Thiagarajan Kumararaja showed us how strong women are and helps us relate to the women characters in the film. The women in the movie have extreme challenges and Super Deluxe does justice in portraying how they manage to face those challenges. I found myself connecting with this movie and realised that this movie is all about real as well as strong women. Super Deluxe is a movie where women openly and fearlessly talk about their priorities and try to own their actions. 

There are scenes in the movie depict that Super Deluxe that depicted the various complexities about women’s lives. Let’s delve into those scenes to understand better.

Vaembu fearlessly opens up to her husband and tells him that she won’t be able to get along with him and then whispers the count of boyfriends she had before marriage. She breaks the conventional trope of a wife without any fear and confesses everything to her husband boldly. She knows the importance of speaking for herself and how much it matters in a society where the slogan ‘husband is the first and only love’ is upheld.

Then comes the scene where Leela honestly admits to her teenage son how her aspiration to become an actress led her to become a porn actress and she willingly chose to become one. The scene clearly depicts that it takes a lot to be courageous like her – she made her own decision, demonstrating that all the women out there have the right to make their own choices and decisions for their lives, minds and bodies.

Shilpa meets a lecherous cop who misuses his power to fulfil his lust. She then emerges from the police station calm and collected after getting treated inhumanely by that cop but later gives that cop a taste of his own medicine down the line. There is a scene in the movie that made my eyes teary where she tells her son to study hard, get a good job, earn the respect of other people, don’t think originally, don’t be unique, blend with the crowd because uniqueness is feared by the world. This scene manifests her pain as she is often met with cynicism, judgement and cruelty due to being a trans woman. However, at a crucial point of time, she is helped by a constable and a flower seller which helps her self-esteem.

Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s unstable mix of dark comedy and savage thriller is undeniably entertaining. Super Deluxe is a movie that deserves more than one watch to understand the depth each character has played. I wish you all a very happy Super Deluxe journey and hope that you go and experience this superb film.

Also Read: Village Rockstars Film Review: Poetry And Feminism In One Frame

Featured image used for representative purpose only. Image source: India Today