Scene Puts Suriya in a Jolly Cop Comedy From the Aavesham Director, and It Lands on Diwali

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Suriya's Diwali film is called Scene, and the glimpse that came out on October 27 confirms the thing everyone hoped for when Jithu Madhavan signed on: Suriya is playing it funny. He is DSP Inbaraj, a rebellious, slightly unhinged police officer, and the clip has him grinning through a fight in a way he has not really done since the early 2000s. It opens November 6.

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Madhavan made Romancham and Aavesham, the two Malayalam comedies that turned Fahadh Faasil into a meme, and this is his first Tamil film. He brings his people with him. Naslen, the kid from Aavesham and Premalu, makes his Tamil debut, Sushin Shyam does the music, and Vineeth Augustian shoots it. Nazriya Nazim is the female lead, in what is her first Tamil film in years.

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The official description is a psychological action comedy, and Suriya told an early screening audience that it is a crime thriller with humour, which is probably the same thing from two angles. The supporting cast is long and the reports disagree on who is in it, with names like Anandraj, Lal, Nassar and Raveena Tandon floating around. Suriya and Jyotika produce under Zhagaram Studios.

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What I like about this is that Suriya has spent most of a decade in heavy, serious roles, and the two best things he did recently, Jai Bhim and the Vikram cameo, were serious too. A comedy from the Aavesham director is a risk and a release at the same time. If Madhavan can do for Suriya what he did for Fahadh, this is the Diwali film people will still be quoting at Pongal.

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It is a three-way Tamil fight on November 6 with Mookuthi Amman 2 and Moonwalk. Is Scene your first pick, and when did you last see Suriya be properly silly on screen?