Krish in Karuppu | SATYAMSHOT

Spoilers!!
There is a tremendous central conceit in RJ Balaji’s speech. Karuppu.

What if the legal system is so corrupt that the presiding deity of that jurisdiction has to come and serve justice? What if the antagonist (Rj Balaji himself) challenges God to do justice without using his powers but as a human? What if God, stripped of his powers, is fighting to bring justice to the common man and loses and has a death on his watch?

This is an intriguing premise of the first half of Karuppan, where Suriya, who is the presiding god of that territory, tries to recover the confiscated jewels of Indrans (excellent cameo) and his daughter so that the money from the jewels can be used to save the life of the daughter who needs a transplant. And it fails!!

If RJ Balaji had continued THIS movie in the second half, we would have had a very good movie here about how the common god wins against the system and achieves the status of real God. But RJ Balaji suddenly changes gears in the second half and decides that he will just make ‘God do God things’ and fix the system, and the film loses all its novelty. So, we have Liar Liar scenes where the antagonist can no longer lie (God uses his powers) and Suriya in God mode fighting them in scene after scene. The second half is somewhat redeemed by the climax where God shows his true form by smoking black weed (Karuppu means black) and defeats the antagonist in a mythological style.

I can see why the movie is a box office success. I didn’t like the second half but it’s very massive and I can see the rural belt going crazy as the whole concept of Karuppan is an ode to the village deities (think Kantara). The film is more of a director’s film (RJ Balaji has the same role as Suriya, if not better!), but I would have been happier if he had made the film he intended to make in the first half and not gone mass and populist in the second half.

Overall, it’s a missed opportunity, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t remade. It’s a very easy hit.