Barath Neelakantan

Calling this film extraordinary would be an understatement. Out-of-the-box, out-of-this-world! How fittingly does it use a happy occasion as a backdrop to tell the coming-of-age of two central characters — one, a little boy; the other, a "fearsome" man who had, for the longest time, suppressed his tender side until a chance encounter with the former. How masterfully does it flip the meaning and emotion behind certain images based on shifting moods caused by the characters' psychological evolution! And who would've thought that the recurring image of a piece of paper from a boy's notebook, which was a source of considerable anxiety for a while, would induce a wide smile at, maybe, the most beautiful closing shot I've seen in recent memory? Among the finest of Vijay Sethupathi, Sai Prithviraj (brilliant casting choice), Lijomol Jose, Santhy Balachandran, and Vishnu Govindan, among others. Also, since this movie is set in the year I was born, the "time travel" experience, with several props recalling childhood memories I thought I'd forgotten, to the point of making me tear up (when I wasn't laughing at the unique comical flourishes in other places), made #Baththa even more special.

Wrote some 1200 words, spoiler-free, on @karthiksubbaraj 's most daring, accomplished film, which is powered by phenomenal turns from Rishikanth and Sananth. #Dorothy is a perfect 5/5 film. theweek.in/review/movies/202…