MOVIE ASSIGNMENT & REPORT WRITING OF SOORARAI

POTTRU MOVIE (2020)

INTRODUCTION:

SooraraiPottru is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by and produced
by Suriya, Jyothika and GuneetMonga. Kongara co-wrote the screenplay alongside Shalini Usha
Nair, with AalifSurti and Ganeshaa providing additional screenplay, and Vijay Kumar and P.
Virumandi, writing the dialogues. Thefilmstars Suriya, AparnaBalamurali and Paresh
Rawalwhile MohanBabu, Urvashi and Karunas feature in other important supporting roles.
Actor: Suriya Actress: Aparna Balamurali Director: SudhaKongara

The film was inspired by events from the life of Simplifly Deccan founder G. R. Gopinath as
described in his memoir Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey. While the project was announced in
mid- 2018 under the working title Suriya 38, the official title was announced in April 2019.
Principal photography began the same month and ended that September. Filming took place
across Madurai, Chennai, and Chandigarh. The music was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar,
while cinematography and editing were handled by NikethBommireddy and SathishSuriya
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 Malayalam and Kannada under the same title and in Telugu as Aakasam Nee
HadduRaa (transl. The sky is the limit). A Hindi dubbed version titled Udaan (transl. Flight) was
released on 4 April 2021.

PLOT OF MOVIE:

NedumaaranRajangam, nicknamed "Maara", is a former Indian Air Force captain who dreams of
starting a low-cost carrier airline. He idolises Paresh Goswami, the owner of Jaz Airlines. One
day, Maara is visited by Sundari, who is nicknamed Bommi, whose family is looking for a
groom for her. Maara is impressed by Bommi's nature and agrees to marry her. He tells her he
grew up as a rebellious boy and had a difficult relationship with his father. Maara joined the Air

Force where he excelled but 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 he
did not have enough money. He asks many people to help him out financially, to no avail. By the
time he raised
enough funds, his father had died. This launched his ambition to start a low-cost carrier. Bommi,
however, feels Maara would not give her much attention post-marriage and rejects him.

Maara visits Naidu to ask for the ex-serviceman loan so he can start his airline but Naidu refuses.
With no other option, Maara travels on the same flight as Paresh. He proposes they work
together and start a low-cost carrier. Paresh, however, believes the poor should not travel with
the rich and humiliates Maara. Prakash Babu, the head of a venture capital firm overhears
Maara's conversation with Paresh and asks him to explain his business plan to the firm's board.
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 Directorate General of Civil Aviation
(DGCA) officials to acquire the license but they disregard him. 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 Indian airspace. PlaneAm cancels the lease and demands a penalty fee.
Maara requests Prakash to loan him money to pay the penalty but he refuses. Prakash reveals he
was working with Paresh, with whom he conspired to bring Maara down, and that Jaz Airlines
has acquired the aircraft instead. Infuriated 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 he can fly smaller aircraft and strikes a deal with a Turboprop aircraft manufacturer.
Paresh, fearing Maara may affect his business, decides to take matters into his own hands.
Meanwhile, Maara's entire village helps him by donating as much money as they can. He plans
to commence flight operations from airstrips that have been abandoned since the major airports
came under Paresh's control. He names his airline Deccan Air, and sells tickets at railway
stations and petrol pumps. Retired Air Force pilots are hired to fly the aircraft and Bommi is
placed in charge of 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 Tambaram Air Force Station due to lack of fuel.
Naidu summons Maara to explain the emergency landing and lets him off with a fine. The
airline's maiden flight catches fire and is forced to abort its take-off. It is revealed Paresh had
bribed the captain to sabotage the flight. The captain admits his mistakes in front of the
inquiry.
VimalBalaiyya, 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 assures everyone his flights are safe and cost-effective. On the
day of the start of operations, however, no passengers check in for one flight. Maara is about to
give up when he is informed a technical error resulted in no tickets for that particular flight being
booked, whereas all other flights are fully booked. With tears of happiness in his eyes, Maara
watches the other flights touchdown. Paresh later calls Maara and offers to work with him but
Maara rejects the offer, saying "farmers have flown and will continue to fly", and that Paresh
"does not own the sky". Paresh accepts defeat as Deccan Air becomes a success.

MARKETING OF THE MOVIE:

As part of the film's promotional strategy, the production company announced that they will
collaborate with Spice Jet as their official partner. The chairman of Spice Jet, Ajay Singh
launched his company's Boeing 737 plane with a poster from the film branded on it on 13
February 2020, the same day where the second single of the film was launched inside on the
company's Boeing 737 plane during mid-air flight. This will be the third time a passenger jet had
been wrapped for advertising an Indian film, after Air Asia India for Kabali (2016) and Spice Jet
for Darbar (2020). The making of SooraraiPottru was released on 14 April 2020, on the occasion
of Tamil New Year's Day. Suriya's dedication and hard work for the film featured in the making
video was appreciated by fans.

Prior to the release of the film, Suriya launched a huge space balloon with a special poster at the
highest possible altitude. The poster, which also featured the signature of over 10,000 fans, was
launched at 34,000 ft above the sea level by a German crew. The first-of-a-kind promotional
activity went viral through social media platforms and internet. A Twitter emoji for the film was
launched prior to its release.

ACCOLADES OF THE MOVIE:

SooraraiPottru was selected as one among ten Indian films to be screened under the Best Foreign
Film category at the 78th Golden Globe Awards. On 26 January 2021, the film's executive
producer, Rajasekar Pandian announced that the film made an official entry to the 93rd Academy
Awards, for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Score and other categories.
He
further added that the film has been made available to the members of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences for votes and nomination at the Academy Screening Room. The film
found a place among the 366 films eligible for nomination, but was eventually not nominated.
SooraraiPottru was also screened at the Chennai International Film Festival. The film also
entered the Panorama Section of the Shanghai International Film Festival. It won two awards at
the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne – including Best Film and Best Actor (Suriya). It was
nominated at 14 categories at the 10th South Indian International Movie Awards and won seven
awards. At the 68th National Film Awards, SooraraiPottru won five awards: Best Feature Film,
Best Actor (Suriya), Best Actress (Aparna), Best Original Screenplay (Kongara and Nair) and
Best Background Score (Prakash Kumar).

IMPACT OF THE MOVIE:

SooraraiPottru received positive response from celebrities with director Shankar, actors Mahesh
Babu, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu amongst others praising the film. The film became the second
most tweeted hash tag of the year in entertainment section, according to a survey report by
Twitter. The film also became the second most searched topic in Google Trends, thus becoming
the only South Indian film to feature in this list. As of February 2021, SooraraiPottru is the most
watched regional language film in the history of Amazon Prime Video in India.

RATINGS OF THE MOVIE:

 Rating by IMDB is 8.7/10.

 Rating by Times of India is 3.5/5.