The act of betrayal, so powerful and devastating, has changed the course of many epics. Be it the ancient Bible or contemporary The Game of Thrones, you need Brutus, Judas, and Walder Freys to bring the chaos without which there is no story. No wonder, filmmaker Vetrimaaran is obsessed with it in his stories. While his debut Polladhavan turned out to be a commercial blockbuster, it was his sophomore film, Aadukalam, that distinguished him from the rest. Aadukalam is the story of a mentor betraying his student, which was simultaneously a rooted rural drama and an epic of sorts about morals and ego. However, Garudan, written by Vetrimaaran and directed by RS Durai Senthilkumar, is closer to Vetri’s gangster saga Vada Chennai. Sokkan (Soori) in the latest release finds himself in a similar dilemma as Anbu (Dhanush) faced in Vada Chennai. Both the underdogs are forced to choose between loyalty and Dharma. In a sense, both heroes are a sort of reiterations of Maharabarata’s Karnan, which would have been the perfect title for the film, but Maari Selvaraja beat Durai to it. In essence, Garudan is a ‘What if’ of Karnan turning against Dhuryodhanan by choosing fairness over loyalty.
Sokkan, much like Karnan, is an orphan who lives with sadhus in a temple. Karuna (Unni Mukundan), an heir of a once-royal family in the village of Theni, adopts him as a friend and convinces his grandma, the matriarch, to let him live in the house. Sokkan becomes a loyal servant-cum-friend, who wouldn’t move a finger against his master Karuna.
Karuna has an affluent friend Aadhi (Sasikumar), with whom he manages the local temple in the village. When a politician in Chennai wants to take over a large piece of land, he gets into legal trouble as it belongs to the temple in Theni. He plots to acquire the original document, which is in the possession of Karuna’s grandmother, which leads to the decadence of minds, ego, and friendship, resulting in a gripping tale of betrayal and revenge.
In all of Durai Senthilkumar’s films, the story supersedes everything else, which makes him more of a storyteller than a filmmaker. Hence, he keeps resorting to a narrator to pass on information (a lot of it) to the audience. The village inspector (played by Samuthirakani) does the job here. He lays down the who’s who of the story. Certainly, an easy fix for expositions. The director also comes with convenient solutions in the form of random characters and flashbacks to get through the narrative. However, these are not a matter of concern for the director. The objective here is clarity, not craftsmanship.
All of this gets compensated by the engaging story and the pace at which it gets unraveled. There are two major deaths (among the numerous others) in the film, and the aftermath of both is dealt with swiftness, avoiding the usual sappy cliches. Yet, both make a significant impact. Then we have some well-written characters with a lot of depth, a rarity these days. Be it Aadhi or even the brother-in-law of Karuna, every character play a part in the way the narrative shapes up making the film organic. It also makes the viewer care for them or hate them making him more interested in what happens to them, than how it is all told.
Soori’s Sokkan is written with such care that all of his dimensions are fleshed out perfectly. The comedy actor, who is rebuilding his career as a hero after Vetrimaaran’s Viduthalai, indulges in humour, but it is devoid of his distinct body language. When the naïve loyal friend turns into a killing machine, it is not out of place. He is recurrently seen with dogs in the film, an on-the-nose symbolism of his loyalty — but the subtle hint is that the same dog can turn rabid and bite off the hand that feeds. With a few such streaks of brilliant writing and Soori’s restrained performance, Garudan makes us forget all its shortcomings. However, Garudan falls short of becoming an epic like Aadukalam or Vada Chennai because, on top of the lack of finesse in visual storytelling, it doesn’t take risks. It is because Durai Senthilkumar makes films for the masses, and that comes at the cost of a few compromises and conveniences in writing.
Garudan cast: Soori, Sasikumar, Samuthirakani, Unni Mukundan
Garudan director: RS Durai Senthilkumar
Garudan rating: 3 stars
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