BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

With Singam 2 poised to earn Suriya his biggest ever opening, it seems as if a massive 10 ½ ton weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The amount of pressure Suriya was bearing prior to the release had derived from him a performance of equal measure which has struck the audiences as a force of confidence and character, making true the statement that when the going gets tough, the tough get going!

Not only has Suriya single handedly borne the responsibility of driving the film to success, he has in the process managed to assert a couple of important statements. One, reaffirming that mass ‘masala’ films are here to stay and two, remind us that such projects require a high degree of performance and showmanship.

The first point is definitely a collective effort by the Singam 2 team led by the experienced Hari, but the point is made with conviction through Suriya. The declaration of commercial pot-boilers’ survival comes at a time when Tamil cinema is enjoying a watershed moment with the emergence of new-wave filmmakers and their projects which seem to stand opposed to films such as Singam 2.

As Suriya himself has said, to entertain everyone from the box to the benches at the same time is a tremendous task and requires a high level of craftsmanship and vision, as much as it does to defeat the odds and break the stereotypes. In an industry as large as this, churning out more than 100 films a year, there certainly is room for both these styles to co-exist and succeed.

The second point, interestingly, gives the impression that films like Singam 2 are more challenging for actors than playing what some might cheekily refer to as Academy Award winning characters, you know – subjected to some kind of grave suffering or tragedy! Fronting a commercial pot-boiler is a tense balancing act for a single miscalculation can disrupt the entire flow of proceedings even if the audiences had decided to leave their brains at home. Singam 2 in that sense doesn’t allow any time for head-scratching thanks to its screenplay which rages on at breakneck speed.

Coming back to the performance, Suriya is simply outstanding in a character that is not written to merely deliver punches, but rather one that has definition and purpose. Suriya’s intensity and the commitment bring this supercop to life and give it a distinct character, all the while without any dramatic makeovers à la Ghajini or Perazhagan. Even his handlebar mustache takes full shape only after he assumes his role as DSP, indicating good writing and characterization. With no make-up or deformation gimmicks to distract the audience, the focus had to be centered around the performance and Suriya was unafraid to be rambunctious. Instead, he wore the ferocity with a sense of pride making it seem like it was coming from within as opposed to giving the camera what it wanted.

Over the years Suriya has earned the credentials of being an all-round performer which reassures his superstar status in the industry. Remarkably, he is constantly pushing the envelope and raising benchmarks for himself alone. The ability to switch from one ‘centre’ centric film to another seamlessly and the proficiency at which he does it places Suriya a cut above his contemporaries. The fact that he never looks out of place doing any character show how sure the man is of himself and his abilities. It may be safe for one to assume that in a long time from now when Suriya has hung up his boots, the audience would look back at his career and acknowledge the fact that as an actor he had given his heart and soul to the roles he signed up.