Olivia Sharma
Sunny Movie Review Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0 stars3.5
Star cast: jayasurya
Director: Ranjith Sankar
Sunny Movie Review Out! (Photo Credit: Prime Video/Youtube)
What is good: while a majority of the industries are struggling to navigate their way through the pandemic, Malayalam cinema is making films about it and telling stories that engage and entertain audiences.
What’s bad: I can say that about a few movies. I wish it was at least 15 minutes longer.
loo break: it’s like a Sherlock episode, this isn’t even a question.
To watch or not?: You should. Very few filmmakers have dared to translate the post-pandemic world on screen. This is definitely an experiment not to be missed.
Language: Malayalam (with subtitles)
Available on: Amazon Prime video
Duration: 93 minutes
User Rating:
The world is fighting a pandemic and a man named Sunny returns to India from Dubai under suspicious circumstances. Taking into account the new guidelines, he has to isolate himself from his house for a week. He chooses the Hyatt Hotel. What happens next week, how he copes with the stress of loneliness while reflecting on his crushing world outside the hotel is the story.
Sunny Movie Review: Script Analysis
There is nothing on Earth that has not been affected by the pandemic that has taken the world by storm. Whether it’s our lifestyle, relationships and the ways to maintain them, even our dietary habits have all changed or adapted in one way or another. So far, only Malayalam cinema has dared to translate the post-pandemic world on screen twice. First with the sparkling Macbeth narration Joji starring Fahadh Faasil and the other Jayasurya’s Sunny.
It’s very difficult terrain. We are still evolving through the phase that has put us all to the test. So Sunny writer Ranjith Sankar chooses a very limited period of time to design his story, which in itself is a huge challenge. A man in isolation quickly sinks into his own demons and is about to give up. All we’ve seen of him is after he landed in India and may have been part of a scam in Dubai. Rest all are the layers Sankar’s writing reveals over the next 93 minutes. It is also insulated, so only 4 walls. Do I need to explain the challenge?
Sunny is a film in which everything is connected. No department can leave a void that the others cover. What must be precise is the detailing of the universe. And Sankar and his team do it right down to the tee. Forget the basic precautions displayed on the screen, it even highlights the anxiety the ‘Fight Coronavirus’ caller melodies have brought us over the past year. There is recognition for the stress, the struggle to stay alone in a room for weeks and on top of that the urge to have a human connection for you in all of this.
As he battled the virus, he also acknowledged the personal struggles. Sunny, the titular character has his Battles. He has almost no one to fall back on. An estranged marriage, stabbed in the back by friends and with no possible family insight, he is left alone in the world and the loneliness is multiplied 100 times when kept in isolation. He looks back on his existence and thinks about life. To give him hope, Sankar plants characters around him. A taxi driver who first alludes to the scam in Sunny’s life, the cop who comes forward to help Sunny, a psychologist who forms a father bond with the man and woman, also in seclusion, who becomes his friend, but even she meets him not face to face.
Everything is precise and to the point because of the sharp running time. Sunny craves to see a human without his face covered and you can feel it right away. But in my opinion, maturity in itself becomes the biggest villain. Sure, we get the whole angle of his estranged marriage (I won’t spoil), but the scam, why don’t we get to know about it in detail. Everyone distrusts Sunny when he books an insulation suit at Hyatt, where does that money come from? Maybe more 15 minutes and a deeper explanation could have worked wonders.
Sunny Movie Review: Star Performance
Jayasurya deserves all the credit for even taking on this role. Imagine being the only human in the frame every second, where all your co-stars are nothing but the voices of several other actors. Hurry right? The man does that as he is used to. He is not ashamed to show off his curves and some extra pounds. There is a sense of kinship with him and you can see yourself in him right away.
He’s complicated even in the opening shot, almost on the verge of being billed as a maniac. He burns his passport, all of you. So you know what I’m talking about. He is suicidal, but also afraid, he accepts that he was incredulous but also throws mantrums. But he’s also vulnerable to bonding over the phone and crying over them when they’re in pain. This is a character you can do a case study in a psychology class, and Jayasurya plays him as he knows him.
Sunny Movie Review: Direction, Music
Fortunately, Ranjith Sankar doesn’t go that extra mile in exaggerating the post-pandemic world on screen. He keeps things as subtle as they do in the real world. The catharsis is in Sunny and the world sees him only as any other man Hyatt checks in for isolation. That’s a win. The fact that he is also the writer works in his favor. He translates what is on paper, because he is the one who formed it in the first place.
I wish the camera had been a little more experimental. Closed places require some creativity. Take, for example, Rajkummar Rao’s Hindi film Trapped. The background music heightens the feeling and aids in a complete movie experience.
Sunny movie review: the last word
As mentioned, very few have dared to do this and we must value them as torchbearers. Everything that comes after has been shown the way by the predecessors. Jayasurya is a treat from an actor and deserves to get a lot of credit for Sunny.
Sunny Trailer
Sunny will be published on September 23, 2021.
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