Dorothy Movie Review: Karthik Subbaraj’s latest is bold, beautiful & unprecedented in Tamil cinema

‘Why did Karthik Subbaraj have to make Dorothy?’ It is a natural question for anyone who either loved or detested the film. Dorothy is a risk. It is a commercial, public relations and career risk not just for Subbaraj, but also for the cast members — especially the brilliant Rishikanth and Sannath. Which is why it wouldn't be out of place to wonder, 'why'. But then, it is also easy to see that Dorothy isn’t entirely uncharacteristic of Subbaraj. Dorothy is not the kind of film that can just bomb at the box office; that would be the least of its problems.

Deconstructing the male ego

In 2016, Subbaraj made Iraivi, a film that held a mirror up to the innate problems of ‘aaan’ (male), the word with the long-sounding vowel. It was the story of a bunch of men who destroyed themselves and the women around them because of their misplaced sense of male ego.

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Well, Dorothy can be considered a close cousin of Iraivi. Subbaraj began this undercutting of the male ego as early as his blockbuster sophomore film Jigarthanda, where a much-dreaded gangster, who had taken pride in his violence throughout his life, gets reduced to a ‘comedy piece’. Assault Sethu’s (Bobby Simha) realisation of his inner child’s jigarthanda (cool heart) is what the essence of the film was all about. It reduced all of Sethu’s violence to the childhood trauma of being embarrassed on stage. Had Sethu found an embrace after the shame on stage, there would have been no Assault Sethu.

When the tables turn

In Dorothy too, the toxic masculinity traces all the way back to Subbu’s (Sannath) childhood. Brought up by his murderous father, Whistle Veeraiya (Muthukumar) and his elder brothers, Subbu keeps telling his close friend Karthik (Rishikanth) not to cry. “Ambalainga aluvakudaathu da (Men shouldn’t cry),” he keeps telling his hapless friend, who constantly needs saving from bullies. A fan of Bruce Lee, Subbu jumps in to kick anyone who tries to lay a hand on his beloved Karthik. Subbu’s casteist father keeps chiding Karthik for being close to his son, but lets him stick around, as his fellow gangsters claim that Karthik would be a useful ally for Subbu.

The tables turn as both friends come of age. Karthik now becomes the Bruce Lee, and Subbu turns into the crybaby. Now, he is the one being told, “Ambalainga aluvakudaathu da.”

Just as the two are on their way to becoming dreaded gangsters, Dorothy (Keerthy Suresh) enters as the wife of Subbu’s elder brother. Subbu quickly forms a bond with Dorothy, which is frowned upon by the patriarch, Whistle Veeraiya. He forces Subbu and Dorothy to stay away from each other. One fine day, Subbu enters his home to find a devastating scene and thus begins the unraveling of all his repressions. Dorothy, the film, then becomes an uproarious trip that takes you to places Tamil cinema hasn’t visited before. To reveal anything more about the plot would spoil not just the film, but the first-time experience of watching such a bold attempt in Tamil cinema.

A visual and musical triumph

However, Dorothy isn’t all about its shock value. It is a film that is shot and enacted with a lot of deliberation and attention to detail. Be it the devastating long single-shot sequence where Subbu finds the horror unfold at his home, the fight sequence in an open paddy field, or some of the splendid shots of Gujarat’s mountains, Tirru (cinematographer S Thirunavukarasu) and Subbaraj have poured massive effort into each frame, making it delectable and thoughtful at the same time. It is a film with a lot of heart, made with a lot of mind.

Take the choice of music composer, for instance. Ilaiyaraaja is undeniably refreshing in the film, but he pulls off something far more important for Dorothy. All said and done, Dorothy is a film that might induce a sense of uneasiness in unsuspecting viewers, and the maestro brings in a familiarity that irons out those niggles. His music has been in the background of every emotion Tamil audiences have come to know through films and that’s exactly why it serves as a guide for what to feel when Karthik Subbaraj takes us through scenarios that haven’t been ventured into in Tamil cinema. The 'Muthumani' song that hits a crescendo towards the end of the film is an amalgamation of Subbaraj's mastery in both craft and emotion.

Performances that anchor the film

It is pretty tricky to talk about the performances of the cast without revealing the plot. However, it would be a cinematic crime not to talk about them. While Sannath deserves all the applause that will come his way, I hope Rishikanth’s performance doesn’t get overlooked. His role is perhaps the toughest act to pull off. While Subbu’s transformation has a physical manifestation, Karthik’s remains internal all through. He is left only with his expressions to bring about the change in him, and to be honest, the third act feels a bit hurried. Yet, Rishikanth sells you that instant flip in his emotions and feelings.

Muthukumar and Ramachandran Durairaj, frequent collaborators of Subbaraj, are increasingly proving to be dependable actors who pull off such roles with remarkable ease. Keerthy Suresh turns out to be an incredible surprise and it has more to do with the very act of choosing to do the film than what she actually does in it. Her role is perhaps the most devastating and brilliant red herring in a film that’s not even a suspense thriller.

A massive risk that pays off

Dorothy will ultimately leave Tamil audiences with a lot of questions, emotions and even anger. One section will wonder what the need was for such romanticisation — or normalisation — of the issue it deals with. On the other hand, it will be rightfully embraced with warm hugs and tears by people who have finally found a mainstream filmmaker with the guts and the will, to pull off something he didn't have to attempt in the first place.

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With Dorothy, Subbaraj will go down in the history of Tamil cinema for closing a film with a kiss scene that is making the women in the audience go wild. The last ten minutes of the film had many women hooting, cheering and clapping. The men, meanwhile, were left confused — for the first time, they didn't know how to react to a kiss scene. And maybe that's exactly why Karthik Subbaraj made Dorothy; to leave the men pondering, yet again.