Ghosts & Goodness: Kannada Comedy 'Su from So' Mirrors Society's Double Standards

There is a quality that certain films possess, drawing in a crowd and forcing them to sit on the edge of their seats, while peering into the world built before them. Set in Dakshin (South) Karnataka, J.P. Tuminadu’s 'Su from So' does exactly that. The film is marketed as a horror-comedy, but it plays more like a social commentary wrapped in the boisterous packaging of humor.

With a cast made up largely of theatre actors, many of them stepping in front of the camera for the first time, and a plot that defies convention, the film’s runaway success might seem surprising to outsiders. But anyone who left the cinema clutching their stomachs from uncontrollable laughter knows exactly why it resonated the way it did.

The film tells a simple story about Ashoka, who gets caught in an awkward misunderstanding of his own making and spends the rest of the film pretending to be possessed by the ghost of a female spirit in order to cover it up. The entire village rallies together to solve this pressing problem, with Ravi Anna, the village headman, leading the investigation. One 'dhongi baba' (played by Raj B. Shetty) later, Sulochana from Someshwara ('Su from So') refuses to leave the village in peace, and the chaos only escalates.

From the visually impaired man who sits by the local tuck shop commenting on everyone’s lives to the good-for-nothing bhava (brother-in-law) who dreams of being a leader but drowns himself in alcohol, each character weaves seamlessly into the fabric of the film and resembles someone we all know in our lives. The score and soundtrack, composed by Sandeep Thulasidas and Sumedh K. respectively, are absolute hits, adding to the film’s charisma.

The film radiates an innate joy, not the kind that forces optimism down your throat but the sort that feels authentically organic - as if the makers infused it with genuine goodness making it feel less like cinema and more like a shared experience. That is precisely why it managed to pack audiences into 150 theatres from Bangalore to Pune. At its heart, the film explores the social positions we assign to different people in society, be it a middle-aged unmarried woman or a godman welcomed into the village with a flower garland. Their inability to live up to these roles sparks unrest and chaos, ultimately revealing our own flaws. The perils of rumours is the central nerve of the film.

It also subtly highlights the separation between different sections of society. For instance, in the big wedding celebration number, only the men are allowed to dance openly and enjoy their freedom, while the women stand to the side and watch. The film urges you to look at yourself and those around you with kindness and empathy, regardless of the social bracket they fall into. More importantly, it urges you to do all this while jamming out to 'Danks Anthem.'

'Su from So' is available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar starting September 9.

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