Dorothy

“Dorothy is an ambitious and unconventional film that uses a rooted rural setting to showcase, challenge masculinity, gender, caste, friendship. The biggest strength of Dorothy is the boldness of its subject, bringing themes of masculinity, caste and gender together through a particularly rooted rural world.”

“Some films can put you completely at ease even when they occasionally tread dark, disturbing territory because of the filmmaker's complete command of the craft. With "Dorothy", he has made a film that's far braver than what Geetu Mohandas did with "Moothon" or Jeo Baby did with "Kaathal – The Core". Earth-shattering, to say the least.”

“Dorothy is Karthik Subbaraj's most ambitious film so far and also his most focussed. He has always been fantastic as far as craft goes, but here he shows a control as a writer we haven't seen from him before — there's hardly a wasted line or shot, and nothing feels engineered to serve a predetermined narrative direction.”

“Pulling inspiration from traditionally masculine genres (Westerns, crime sagas, martial arts films) but filtering it through a modern sensibility that has a more expansive view of what it means to be a man, Subbaraj creates a cinematic experience like no other, an exhilarating ride that bucks expectation at every turn.”

“The result is uneven, occasionally overextended, and undeniably provocative. But it is also sincere, visually assured and driven by performances that give its most unconventional ideas an emotional foundation. Dorothy ultimately works best not as a film about a twist, but as a film about the consequences of being forced to live as someone you are not.”

“Dorothy remains one of Karthik Subbaraj's more daring films. Despite its uneven stretches and heavy-handed moments, Dorothy is a bold film that takes considerable risks and leaves plenty to discuss after the credits.”

“While his intent may be noble, it's impossible to say the same about its impact. Sure, his heart might have been in the right place, but the portrayals reek of an evident male and savarna gaze, which makes Dorothy as harmful as any other movie that propagates problematic notions.”

“Dorothy is an audacious and tender exploration of masculinity and gender identity that becomes muddled just when its ideas matter most. Dorothy is undeniably a bold attempt and a well-made film, anchored by two excellent lead performances. Yet, Karthik Subbaraj's film becomes frustratingly shaky and confusing exactly when it matters the most.”

“Karthik Subbaraj's Dorothy would like to believe that it has the kind of bravery that can singlehandedly cut wide open the possibilities of what mainstream Indian cinema can utter and traverse. Yet, it keeps chafing against its noble intentions. Subbaraj's choice can be questioned, especially how he positions trans agency, with a grating familiar impulse to interlace transness with divinity that inadvertently creates difference instead of embedding the trans community within the mundane.”

“Dorothy is a risk. It is a commercial, public relations and career risk not just for Subbaraj, but also for the cast members — especially the brilliant Rishikanth and Sannath. However, Dorothy isn't entirely uncharacteristic of Subbaraj, and it is a film that is shot and enacted with a lot of deliberation and attention to detail, making it delectable and thoughtful at the same time.”

“As a director, this is one of Karthik Subbaraj's finest films, with Tirru's extraordinary cinematography and Ganesh Siva's furious editing. But the writing isn't confident. The plot, the storyline, is fantastic. The destination is brilliant, but the journey is shaky.”

“Dorothy is a welcome departure from that disappointment. The form is solidly present, flipping between a flashback in colour and a present in black and white—a reversal, where usually the past is rendered in monochrome nostalgia. Long shots litter the film—and there almost seems to be a narrative point to these long shots.”

“Within the framework of a crime thriller that has music by Ilaiyaraaja and striking compositions by cinematographer S Thirunavukarasu, Subbaraj shreds received wisdom with a brio that has to be seen to be believed. Dorothy is a terrific subversion of the conventional Tamil film romance.”

“In Dorothy, Karthik Subbaraj treads mindfully; he employs gorgeous wide shots, expressive blurred shots and sometimes even caricature-ish frames to tell a story that's humane at its core. However, with Dorothy, he brings an engaging, visually stunning drama to the mainstream that would otherwise be deemed fit for 'art' cinema.”

“Dorothy might be the start of a queer revolution in mainstream Tamil cinema, and Karthik has shown real effort to understand some of what queer life in India means. All it took was one audacious filmmaker, a daring producer, and a passionate cast to pull off what might just become the most important Indian film of the year.”