Sivakarthikeyan’s directorial journey is five years and ten movies old. He's enjoyed superstardom from his fourth movie (not counting 3, where he played Dhanush's sidekick).
He's given consecutive blockbusters since 2013, beginning with Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam. If you speak Tamil and you understand the type of comedy that depends on the lingo, you're going to enjoy Remo. If you don't speak the language, this movie isn't for you. But you might enjoy this review.
Let’s Stalk
Remo is yet another movie, where the hero stalks the heroine, this time in multiple disguises.
This one-liner is enough to sell you on the fact that there is crassness on display. I daresay that most online reviews will slam the movie for elevating stalking to an art form, where all you need is some serious make-up skills, and to be able to croak like a frog to sound like a woman.
Before we get into this, allow me to tell you why the movie will do well. Here are the ingredients, which have unfailingly given Sivakarthikeyan bombastic success since 2013.
Boy loves girl who’s already engaged. Boy dresses up as female nurse, breaks engagement, makes girl fall in love with him. All live happily ever after.This is NOT the synopsis. This is the script.
Ingredients of Blockbuster Sivakarthikeyan Movie
PC Sreeram, Resul Pookkutty, Anirudh Ravichander, WETA (Lord of The Rings) make-up guys, timely references to Sivakarthikeyan’s previous hit films, comedy-comedy-comedy, emotion-emotion-boohoo, punch-dialogue-punch.
Even in the inane parts of the movie (which includes many scenes and ALL of the songs), PC Sreeram's early 90's graduated orange filter kicks in and keeps you in warm-fuzzy land. Where the movie is sure to win audiences over, is in the fact that it doesn't take itself seriously. At all. That's why Mirziya sucked and Remo will go on to gross big-ly across TN.
Speaking of Gross
“To make boys cry is the full-time job of girls.” - Hero.
“I love her. Do anything, but get her.” - Hero’s mom.
The movie’s chock-full of such misogynistic biomass. There’s a scene in the movie where the hero explains that true love means following/being with the girl of your dreams forever and ever, regardless of how she looks. And yet, when the heroine asks him why he likes her, all he can talk about is her eyes, her smile, those lips...
Basically, if you leave your brain at home, and decide you want to laugh at a couple of beautifully timed gags, many at the hero’s expense, you’ll enjoy Remo.
But, if you do think about the kind of movie Remo is, you’ll find that it’s quite like Donald Trump. It’s obnoxious, contradictory, misogynistic, doesn’t go by the script, doesn’t believe in consent and consistently entertains.
But Before You Judge...
We need to have a broader conversation on stalking. Slamming a movie (3, Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya, etc) or an entire industry (Bollywood, Kollywood) for promoting or propagating it, is as myopic as thinking that stalking is a precursor to wooing.
Consider cinematic classics like Room with a View or Roman Holiday, or blockbusters like Hitch or Wall-E. Or the hundreds upon hundreds of Hindi, Tamil and other regional language movies in India, from the late fifties to 2016 that have stalking as the basis of their love stories.
Stalking, clearly, is a global, anthropological phenomenon that predates movies by a couple of thousand years. It’s time we spoke about it in broader terms than ‘soup boys’ or ‘heartless girls’.
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