Karthik Subbaraj reveals Rajnikanth watched Suriya-starrer Retro: ‘Suriya’s performance was super’

Also Read | Retro movie review: Suriya powers an entertaining, layered, but slightly shaky Karthik Subbaraj film

In an interview with Galatta Plus before the release of Retro, Karthik Subbaraj dropped a bombshell by revealing that the film was originally pitched to Rajinikanth. He said, “I wrote it for Thalaivar (Rajinikanth). Since it was written with him (Rajinikanth) in mind, the initial script was filled with a lot of action and mass elements. However, working on it further, I realised there was a strong love story there.”

After the script became a love story at its core, Karthik decided to approach Suriya for Retro, and once he gave the go-ahead, certain changes were made to the protagonist’s characterisation. “When Suriya sir read the first draft, he immediately asked me if I’d written it for Rajini sir. Later, we made the protagonist even more vulnerable. However, let me assure you that it doesn’t mean the character will not have mass moments or heroism-filled action sequences.”

Also Read | Retro is a love story, confirms Karthik Subbaraj; reveals this wasn’t the first script he narrated to Suriya: ‘He wanted to try something new’

Retro also stars Pooja Hegde, Jayaram, Nassar, Prakash Raj, Joju George, and Karunakaran. The movie had a strong opening day, earning Rs 19 crore, but its daily collections have been declining since. The weekend numbers were also underwhelming, with the film managing only Rs 16 crore over Saturday and Sunday combined. It seems that Rajnikanth’s positive words couldn’t have come at a better time for both Karthik and Suriya.

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