Director Karthik Subbaraj’s latest offering “Retro” starring Suriya and Pooja Hegde has made its theatrical debut to mixed reactions. While audiences might evaluate the film purely on its entertainment value, there are legitimate concerns about the filmmaker’s controversial political stances that deserve consideration before supporting his work.
Karthik Subbaraj burst onto the Tamil cinema scene with Naalaya Iyakkunar, a reality show for aspiring filmmakers telecasted by DMK’ official mouthpiece Kalaignar TV. He proved to be a promising director with his breakout sleeper hit “Pizza” (2012), a low-budget supernatural thriller that captivated audiences with its innovative storytelling and clever plot twists. This unexpected debut from an unknown filmmaker showcased exceptional talent and promised a fresh voice in Kollywood’s often formulaic landscape.
Building on this initial success, Subbaraj continued to impress critics and viewers alike with films such as “Jigarthanda” (2014), the female-centric “Iraivi” (2016), and the experimental silent film “Mercury” (2018). Each project demonstrated his versatility and apparent commitment to meaningful cinema that challenged conventions.
The collaboration with superstar Rajinikanth for “Petta” (2019) seemed to elevate Subbaraj to the top tier of Tamil directors. What appeared to be his crowning achievement, however, marked a troubling turning point. What had once been subtle thematic elements evolved into increasingly overt Dravidianist political messaging that began overshadowing his once-promising artistic vision.
With each subsequent release, audiences witnessed Subbaraj’s transition from an innovative storyteller to a filmmaker apparently more interested in political posturing than cinematic excellence. His narratives gradually became vehicles for divisive Dravidianist propaganda rather than the groundbreaking storytelling that initially earned him acclaim.
His latest venture “Retro,” released on 1 May 2025, has become a lightning rod for controversy, facing harsh criticism from fans and critics alike. The pairing of Subbaraj with actor Suriya—himself known for virtue signalling people has only intensified scrutiny from viewers growing weary of entertainers leveraging their platforms for ideological activism rather than focusing on their craft.
Karthik Subbaraj – Used Film To Peddle Propaganda
Let’s take a look at how Karthik Subbaraj peddled propaganda through his film Petta.
Featuring Rajinikanth in Petta, viewers can find subtle attacks on Hindutva and Hindu rights groups like Bajrang Dal, with characters sporting tilaks often shown as religious bigots, while Rajinikanth’s character helps a Muslim couple, Anwar and Anu, get married, showing him as the do-gooder. Rajinikanth chose to do Petta which showed Bajrang Dal in bad light – all thanks to the director’s “brilliant” writing to suit the powers that be.
Love For Naxals & Terrorists, LTTE Sympathizer – Karthik Subbaraj
Let us also take a look at the personal opinions and who he sides with. Did you know that Karthik Subbaraj is a known sympathizer of LTTE and Naxals like Daniel/Thirumurugan Gandhi?
Here are some screenshots of his X posts that show his outpouring of love and support for the criminals who were involved in the assassination of the Prime Minister of our country.
Love For Terrorist Perarivalan Who Helped Kill Rajiv Gandhi
A.G. Perarivalan is a terrorist convicted for assassinating former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and we have the likes of Subbaraj vouching for his innocence.
When the terrorist was released, he thanked everyone. Looks like he was over the moon!
Love For Urban Naxal Separatist Thirumurugan Gandhi
Thirumurugan Gandhi, a separatist who cloaks himself in the rhetoric of Tamil nationalism, is a simple political fringe, leading a small group called the ‘May 17 Movement’. While he presents himself as a UN speaker, human rights activist, and advocate for Tamil rights, he is nothing, but a two-bit Dravidianist stooge who was propped by the DMK ecosystem.
And we have people like Subbaraj supporting him – their love for LTTE terror organization would have brought them together.
Karthik Subbaraj Was Against Central Government Policies & Projects
Karthik Subbaraj, like many of his Dravidianwood peers, has shown loyalty to the present ruling state government by voicing out against central government projects like the hydrocarbon project in Neduvasal.
Look at him threatening – “When Farmers says NO it’s a NO!!”
People like him have been influencing the lay citizens to go against development and deny people job opportunities while they make such posts from their airconditioned bedrooms in their ivory towers.
He did the same for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant! He wanted politicians to watch the documentary on Chernobyl and use it as a reason to stop the nuclear power plant in TN. Was he so naive that people were not aware of why Chernobyl happened?
He has also been a vocal “anti-NEET” person. Here’s proof.
According to him, getting to NEET exam centres was so difficult so they need to ban it!
Want to see how he showed his loyalty to the present CM and his son? See this!
Like every other celebrity in town, Subbaraj cried in pain for Benix and Felix but did not open their mouth about what happened to any other custodial death victim or even open their mouth for the Vengaivayal faeces mixing incident.
Here’s Subbaraj doing lip service to terror attacks that happened in Kashmir without naming the perpetrators. Look at the language he uses – like every other Dravidianist, given a chance, it feels like he will also peddle the same lies that people like Senthilvel and Madan Gowri peddle and whitewash the real Islamic terrorists from Pakistan as some “foreigners”. Here’s what he said for Pulwama terror attack:
And this is what he said for the Pahalgam attack a few days ago.
In 2019, a number of rape incidents occurred across the country, and they kept making headlines. It was also the time that the Modi government had just come back to power for the second time. Here’s Subbaraj calling the country unsafe! But we did not find any posts or messages on the gruesome Anna University rape case!
How can we forget these Kollywood celebrities and their vocal voices against CAA. Here’s Karthik Subbaraj doing the needful. He found it “seriously wrong and against secularism” and wanted to keep India “secular”. How kind! In the same vein, he even voices against NRC.
Last but not the least, here’s Karthik Subbaraj showing his support for the pusillanimous Ra Ranjith who will not talk about atrocities against Dalits when inconvenient. We all know what this “gaana concert” was initiated to achieve.
Retro, the latest offering from the Subbaraj stable is nothing but trash, as indicated by fans. You can check out the reviews here. Just for your satisfaction, we have included a review of a Malayali fan. Here’s what she says, “This is a script meant for Vijay and it looks like Suriya has acted in it, something to save himself. It is not like Malayalis don’t like ‘mass’ films, if that were the case Mohanlal’s films and films like KGF would have flopped. They seem to have made a script jsut for the sake of it, included fights for the sake of it, it was very silent inside the theatre, people just clapped when Suriya walked here and there. The climax was a comedy! People were laughing in the climax. It was a hopeless film. But compared to Kanguva, it is better.”
Kerala Girls #RetroReview 😂😂😂
No come back Suriya #Retro— THALA அரவிந்த் X || 63K || (@ThalaAravint) May 1, 2025
Like the fan, it only feels as if Subbaraj has joined the bandwagon of Suriya to make black money white and make trash films just for the sake of it!
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