Genius

One of the admirable qualities of Susienthiran, even in his weakest films, has been the assuredness in his filmmaking. But his previous film, ‘Nenjil Thunivirunthal’, and now, ‘Genius’, seem to indicate a crisis of confidence. The filmmaker chose to remove the portions featuring the heroine from the previous film – after it had been released, showing us that he isn’t making the right choices as a writer. And now, the writing in this film, which is about a man (Roshan) who has forgotten his cherish the smaller moments in life to the demands of an overbearing father (Aadukalam Naren), is filled with convoluted, preposterous scenes, only reinforces the fact. But more worryingly, even the filmmaking seems to have deserted him as he gives us flatly staged scenes with melodramatic acting that one might find in TV serials. Even when taken as a message film, ‘Genius’ makes the didactic films of Samuthirakani seem livelier.

In a crucial scene, the protagonist drives himself to work continuously for two days, which results in a brain freeze. The doctor tells his parents his over-obsession with work is what has caused this condition and prescribes rest and relaxation. More than anyone, it is Susienthiran, who has been making film after film without a break (he has wrapped up two more films and has begun a new one earlier this week), who needs to take the message – slow down rather than burn out.