Stone Bench Creations and 2D Entertainment’s Retro (dubbed from the Tamil film of the same name: UA) is a romantic-action film. Tilak (Joju George) is a notorious gangster. His adopted son, Paarivel Kannan (Suriya), falls in love with Rukmini (Pooja Hegde) and decides to start life afresh, leaving his criminal past behind him. However, Tilak is obsessed about a Gold Fish which he wants at any cost and he knows that only Paarivel can help him get that. Paarivel escapes from prison with the help of King Michael’s (Vidhu) men. What is Paarivel’s real motive in escaping from jail? Why does King Michael assist Paarivel in escaping from prison? To what extent does Tilak go for the Gold Fish?
Karthik Subbaraj has penned a story which tries to pack in too much. His screenplay is confused and often hotch-potch. The first half is at least okay but the drama loses steam after interval. What’s more, the screenplay lacks depth. Even the characters are not too well-etched out. Dialogues are ordinary.
Suriya is sincere in his performance as Paarivel. He does full justice to his character. Pooja Hegde looks beautiful but gets limited scope to perform. Joju George is alright as Tilak. Vidhu is natural in the role of King Michael. Nasser doesn’t have a very substantive role. Prakash Raj is also limited by his brief role. Jayaram (as Chaplin Lolly) is so-so in a role that seems insignificant. Karunakaran lends routine support. Sujith Shankar is okay. Swasika (as Paarivel’s adoptive mother), Singampuli (as Rukmini’s father), Avinash Raghudevan, Tarak Ponnappa, Gajaraj, Thamizh, Krishnakumar Balasubramanian, Prem Kumar, Ramachandran Durairaj, Uday Mahesh, Sandeep Raj, Murugavel, Remya Suresh, George Maryan, Kaarthekeyen Santhanam and M.D. Asif provide average support. Shriya Saran is good in a cameo appearance in the ‘Love detox’ song-dance. Santhosh Narayanan is alright in a cameo appearance in another song-dance. Others pass muster.
Karthik Subbaraj’s direction is not very impressive. He has not been able to hold the scattered script together for a cohesive drama. Santhosh Narayanan’s music is not really appealing for Hindi film lovers. Lyrics are ordinary. Song picturidations are alright. Santhosh Narayanan’s background music is impactful. Shreyas Krishna’s cinematography is quite nice. Action and stunt scenes afford thrill. Shafique Mohamed Ali’s editing ought to have been sharper. Dubbing is quite nice.
On the whole, Retro is a fair fare.
Released on 1-5-’25 at Gossip (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment. Publicity: poor. Opening: fair (because of the Labour Day and Maharashtra holiday). …….Also released all over. Opening was okay because of the Labour Day holiday.
