Soorarai Pottru

Nedumaaran Rajangam is an air force officer who grew up in a town in the south. When his father falls ill he cannot get a plane ticket, does not reach Chennai in time, and the father dies. Maara makes a decision: he will start an airline selling seats at a price ordinary people can pay. Against him are the company that holds the sector, the authorities that will not grant a licence, and the problem of raising money. Sudha Kongara directs. Suriya plays Maara and Aparna Balamurali plays his wife Bommi. The story is drawn from a real person: G. R. Gopinath, founder of Air Deccan, who began low cost air travel in India, and from his book. The subject is class rather than aviation. Most of the obstacles Maara meets are social rather than technical: his accent, where he comes from, and whom he does not belong to. The narrative takes that on directly. Bommi is outside the type: she starts her own business, negotiates her own marriage and is not reduced to an assistant in her husband's story. Aparna Balamurali won a national film award for the part. Suriya won the national award for best actor the same year. It was released straight to Amazon Prime during the pandemic and drew a large audience; it was later remade in other languages. Who it is for: viewers who follow Tamil cinema and struggle stories drawn from real events. Who it is not for: the emotional pitch is high, it runs long, and the opposition is one dimensional.