Soorarai Pottru

 

Soorarai Pottru is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Sudha Kongara and produced by Suriya and Guneet Monga, under their respective banners 2D Entertainment and Sikhya Entertainment. The story was conceptualised and written by Kongara. The screenplay was written by Kongara and Shalini Ushadevi, with an additional screenplay by Aalif Surti and Ganesha, and Vijay Kumar writing the dialogue. The film stars Suriya, Paresh Rawal, and Aparna Balamurali with Urvashi, Mohan Babu, and Karunas amongst others in supporting roles.

The film was partly inspired by events from the life of Simplifly Deccan founder G. R. Gopinath. While the project was announced in mid-2018, under the working title Suriya 38, the official title Soorarai Pottru was announced on 13 April 2019. Principal photography began the very same month and ended that September. Filming took place across Madurai, Chennai, and Chandigarh. The film features music composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, while cinematography and editing were handled by Niketh Bommireddy and Sathish Suriya respectively.

The theatrical release of the film suffered due to post-production delays and the COVID-19 pandemic. The film released digitally through Amazon Prime Video on 12 November 2020, coinciding with the eve of Diwali festival. It was released simultaneously with its dubbed versions in Kannada and Malayalam under the same title and in Telugu as Aakasam Nee Haddu Raa (transl. The sky is the limit).The film received positive reviews from critics, praising the major technical aspects of the film, also appreciating Suriya's performance and Sudha's direction.

Soorarai Pottru was selected as one among ten Indian films to be screened under the Best Foreign Film category at the 78th Golden Globe Awards. The film was made available for screening at the 93rd Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

 

Plot

Nedumaaran, fondly called ‘Maara’, is a former Indian air force captain who dreams of starting a low-cost carrier airline. He idolizes Paresh Goswami, the owner of Jaz Airlines who achieved great success in the airline industry through hard work. One day, Maara is visited by Sundari a.k.a Bommi whose family is looking for a suitable groom for her. Maara is impressed by Bommi’s nature and agrees to marry her. He tells her that he grew up as a rebellious boy, much to his father’s dismay, and had a strained relationship with him. Later, he joined the Air Force where he excelled. He was often reprimanded by his superior, M. Naidu due to his rebellious nature. When his father was on his deathbed, Maara tried to book a flight home but found that he did not have enough money. He requests many people to help him out financially but in vain. By the time he reaches, his father has already passed. This launched his ambition for starting a low-cost carrier. Bommi, however, feels that he would not give much attention to her post-marriage and rejects him.

Maara visits Naidu to ask for the ex-serviceman loan so that he can start his airline but Naidu refuses. With no other option, Maara travels on the same flight as Paresh Goswami. He proposes they work together and start a low-cost carrier. Paresh however, believes that the poor should not travel with the rich and humiliates Maara. Prakash Babu, the head of a venture capitalist firm overhears Maara’s conversation with Paresh and asks him to explain his business plan to the board members of the firm. Meanwhile, Maara and Bommi start meeting each other frequently and eventually get married. He plans to lease Boeing aircraft from PlaneAm who have agreed to lease them at low prices. After his funds get sanctioned, Maara tries to meet the DGCA officials to acquire the license but they fail to give him any importance. Maara meets the President of India and requests his help in getting the license.

Irked by his progress, Paresh uses his power to pass a law that requires Boeing to submit its airline blueprints to fly in the Indian airspace. This leads to PlaneAm canceling the lease and demanding a penalty fee. Maara requests Prakash to loan him money to pay the penalty but he is denied. Prakash reveals he was working with Paresh and had conspired with him to bring Maara down. He also reveals the Boeing planes were acquired by Jaz airlines instead. Furious, Maara storms into Paresh’s office but is tackled by the guards. He becomes short-tempered and often quarrels with Bommi but later apologizes. He realizes that he can fly smaller aircraft and strikes a deal with a Turboprop aircraft manufacturer. Paresh, fearing his rise can affect his business decides to take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, Maara’s entire village comes to help him financially by donating as much money as they can. He plans to commence flight operations from abandoned airstrips since the major airports come under Paresh’s control. He names his airline ‘Deccan Air’ and sells tickets at railway stations and petrol pumps hoping to get customers. Retired Air Force pilots are hired to fly the planes and Bommi is made in-charge of the in-flight catering.

On the day of the delivery of the aircraft, Paresh uses his influence to restrict the flight’s landing at Chennai, forcing the flight to crash land at the Air Force base due to lack of fuel. Maara is called by Naidu to explain for the emergency landing and lets him off with a fine after hearing about his ambitions. On the day of the maiden voyage, the flight catches fire and is forced to cancel take-off. It is revealed that Paresh had bribed the captain to sabotage the flight. The captain owns up to his mistakes in front of the inquiry. A prominent businessman offers to buy ‘Deccan Air’ but Maara refuses citing differences in their vision. Paresh starts a smear campaign against ‘Deccan Air’ in the hopes of ending Maara’s dreams but Maara ensures everyone that his flights are safe and cost-effective. On the day of the start of operations, however, no one turns up for one of the flights. Just when Maara is about to give up, he is informed that a technical glitch occurred due to which the tickets for that particular flight did not get booked. But all other flights get completely booked. With tears of happiness in his eyes, Maara watches the other flights touch down. Paresh accepts defeat as ‘Deccan Air’ becomes a success.

 

Cast

·         Suriya as Nedumaaran Rajangam (Maara)

·         Paresh Rawal as Paresh Goswami

·         Aparna Balamurali as Sundari "Bommi" Nedumaaran, Maara's wife

·         Urvashi as Pechi, Maara's mother

·         Mohan Babu as M. Bhaktavatsalam Naidu

·         Karunas as Alapparai

·         Vivek Prasanna as Sebastian

·         Krishnakumar as Chaitanya "Che" Rao

·         Kaali Venkat as Kaali

·         Achyuth Kumar as Anantha Narayanan

·         G. Gnanasambandam as Chinnaswamy, Bommi's father

·         Vinodhini Vaidyanathan as Chitra Ramaswamy

·         Vishalini as Muthulakshmi, Bommi's mother

·         Prakash Belawadi as Prakash Babu

·         Ramachandran Durairaj as Arivu

·         R. S. Shivaji as Anantha Narayanan's PA

·         Poo Ramu as Rajangam, Maara's father

·         Dan Dhanoa as Vimal Balaiyya

·         Priya Prince as Seby's wife

·         Cassendra as Preethi, Che's lover

·         Supergood Subramani as a marriage broker

·         Ilan as Seby's son

·         Iyal as Seby's daughter

·         Somshekar as a IAF cadet

·         Senthil Kumar as himself (special appearance)

·         Varsha Nair as a pilot

·         RJ Anandhi as a stewardess