A glut of blood, gore and violence is what you get when you watch Shrijai’s directorial debut, Rx Soori . And if you desperately seek a break from the excessive bloodshed, there are repulsive comedy sequences that have been forcibly interspersed into the narrative waiting to make you even more uncomfortable.
Rx Soori is ‘Duniya’ Vijay’s latest and Kannada cinema’s most recent contribution to the gangster film genre. However, the film offers nothing new to the genre. In the most tedious manner, it tells you a story you have heard and seen many times before.
Soori’s (Vijay) sister receives obscene messages on her phone from a man at a mobile recharge shop. He beats him up and then learns that he has earned the wrath of Tiger (Ravi Shankar) and his gang. Unable to get out of the cycle of revenge, he sinks deeper into gangster turf. He also has some faithful gang members; how they became a gang is of course not explained in the film. In the meantime, Soori’s childhood friend, Meera (Aakanksha) falls for him and wants to marry him. What happens to their story and Soori’s fate at the hands of his enemies forms the rest of the plot.
The film tries to make a comment on the underworld and the lure of violence for young, unassuming men who often enter the world of bloodshed accidentally. However, Shrijai fails to engage the viewer. What he tries to do is cash in on the popularity of Vijay. There are multiple scenes where we see nothing but Vijay posing with his bike as the background score screams ‘Soori’ repeatedly. There is a particularly long chase sequence which seems to be inserted only to showcase Soori’s bike. A lot of the film rides on an overdose of masculinity and its repetitive showcase.
Vijay makes it clear that his strength lies in the stunts he performs but as an actor he can hardly emote. Aakanksha makes a good debut with this film. Ravi Shankar is melodramatic as the rival gang leader.
The truth remains that one can more than tolerate Shrijai’s gangster plot because the comic bits are far more offensive and cringeworthy in Rx Soori. Sadhu Kokila performs in appalling sequences that are misogynistic and full of double entendres that are disgusting. The only topic for comedy seems to be sex with a woman, a married one preferably. In fact, the comedy track itself seems needless in such a film. Even the dance numbers only delay the plot.
There were reports that Rx Soori was based on the story of Peritala Ravindra. However, this is far from the truth for Rx Soori is just another gangster film, one that is a little too obsessed with Vijay’s stardom.
