Suriya & Jithu Madhavan Keep The ‘Scene’ Light In This Quirky Thriller
Whenever Suriya puts on a khaki uniform, Tamil cinema audiences expect one of two things.
Either we get the raw, brooding realism of Anbuchelvan from Kaakha Kaakha, or we get the thunderous, lion-roaring heroism of Durai Singam.
That is exactly why Scene feels so refreshing right from the first reel.
Aside from Suriya holding the fort in the lead, the entire crew and cast is packed with Malayalam talent, giving this Tamil film a distinct Mollywood flavour.
Spoiler Alert:
Teaming up with Malayalam director Jithu Madhavan, the one who gave us the madcap energy of Romancham and Aavesham, Suriya completely drops the macho cop image here and plays a man whose biggest battle is his own failing eyesight.
Scene doesn’t pretend to be an edge-of-your-seat thriller.
In fact, Jithu Madhavan throws the biggest rule of murder mysteries right out the window, there is no suspense about who the killer is. We meet the culprit in the very first act.
That culprit is Eeswaran, played by Naslen. Most of us know Naslen as the lovable, goofy boy-next-door from Malayalam hits, so watching him play a cold-blooded serial killer is impressive.
Eeswaran starts off by killing his own father, and before you know it, he turns murder into a regular freelance gig.
People actually call this young kid to bump off their targets, and he stages every single hit to look like a suicide.
Because of a distinct signature he leaves behind, the cops call him the “Perfume Killer.” Naslen plays him without any loud villainous theatrics, just a creepy, casual blankness that works really well.
Tracking him down is DSP Inbarajan (Suriya), though tracking is putting it generously. When we first see Inbarajan, he is trying to quit the force.
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His boss, Stephen (Lal), talks him into taking up one last case, the murder of a young girl. At first, you think Inbarajan is just tired of the job. Then the flashback hits, and we learn the truth that he has already lost 90% of his vision and is slowly going completely blind.
Watching Suriya play a visually impaired cop is easily the best part of the movie. He isn’t jumping over cars or slapping bad guys across the room, but he is trying to figure out where the furniture is without anyone noticing he can’t see.
To pull this off, he hires Maya (Nazriya Nazim). To the outside world, Maya is just his housemaid.
She has her own baggage too, ever since her mother died, her hands haven’t stopped shaking.
Slowly, Inbarajan trains her to become his shadow and his eyes. Their bonding has a very natural, warm rhythm to it, with a sweet, understated romance simmering underneath.
There’s even a lovely little moment where Inbarajan asks Maya to describe what she looks like since he can’t see her face.
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As she talks, the camera cuts to what he pictures in his head, and Jyothika pops up on screen for a brief second as “Imaginary Maya.” It’s a neat little meta joke that gets a genuine smile from the crowd.
Things get even weirder and funnier when Inbarajan’s parents enter the picture. They are introduced like a pair of clumsy old folks.
Turns out, they are retired forensic and criminology experts. Suddenly, this slightly dysfunctional family becomes a makeshift investigation unit.
It is Inbarajan’s mother who cracks the pattern, realising the killer is very young and meticulously disguises every murder as a suicide.
Meanwhile, Nazriya gets a fun little stretch where she holds her own in a local street tussle, proving she isn’t just there to stand around and look pretty.
The first half of the film is mostly spent setting up these oddball characters, including a jailhouse subplot with Tovino Thomas playing Victor, a criminal Inbarajan had previously put behind bars who now wants to meet him.
The actual investigation only really kicks off in the second half, as Suriya and his quirky household piece together clues and close in on Eeswaran.
As entertaining as Jithu Madhavan’s humour and eccentric characters are, the film hits a rough patch in how it handles serious subjects like MDMA and drug abuse.
There is a big difference between making a light-hearted comedy that doesn’t take itself seriously and treating something with heavy social consequences like it’s completely harmless.
Aavesham had already drawn flak for its casual take on drugs and college violence, and Scene falls into the same trap.
Nobody is saying you can’t use dark humour around grim topics, but a filmmaker still has to be mindful of the message it sends out.
Here, Jithu’s usual carefree, irreverent style feels a bit careless.
The movie also loses some steam because it plays things too safe. A lot of the light puns land nicely and give you a good chuckle, while a few others fall flat. Because the audience already knows Eeswaran is the killer, the second half lacks that genuine tension you want from a crime story.
Even when the climax rolls around, and Eeswaran walks right into Inbarajan’s house to finish off him and Maya, knowing full well the cop is blind, the showdown feels a bit too straight and predictable.
You kind of wish the writing had thrown in one sharp curveball.
Still, the technical crew keeps the mood lively. Sushin Shyam’s music moves smoothly between goofy and tense, and Vineeth Augustian’s camera work does a smart job of showing us the world through Inbarajan’s limited eyesight.
At the end of the day, Scene isn’t trying to reinvent the thriller genre or blow your mind with crazy plot twists.
It is a simple, quirky dark comedy that coasts on the charm of its lead cast. Seeing Suriya step out of his comfort zone, paired with Nazriya’s easy screen presence and Naslen’s offbeat turn as a killer, makes it a good watch.
It doesn’t leave a massive mark once the credits roll, and the script could have definitely used a bit more bite, but for a couple of hours of easygoing entertainment, it does the trick.
Timeline Verdict: Scene is a breezy dark comedy that works well as an easygoing watch despite lacking real thrills.
Rating: 3/5
Cast: Suriya, Nazriya Nazim, Naslen, Lal, Anandaraj, Raj Priyan
Crew:
- Director & Writer: Jithu Madhavan
- Producers: Suriya, Jyothika, Jaishree Damodaran
- Music Composer: Sushin Shyam
- Cinematographer: Vineeth Augustian
