The Psychological Game that Karthik Subbaraj played with us. | Dorothy Movie Review
Dorothy, the Tamil film gained its pre-release momentum with its world premier at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. Though the lead actors Rishikanth and Sanath were celebrated with a standing ovation by an international audience, they received a rude shock when the film released two weeks later in India. The negative propaganda on the crux of the film was pasted all over social media. This sparked the interest of the traditional "theatre audience".
Things shifted overnight as Dorothy was the only film the Tamilnadu audience could talk about for the next 3 weeks. The craze for the bold message, for the lead actors and a special role played by Keerthi Suresh wass further bolstered by Isaignani Ilayaraja's music. The Gen-Z audience are fascinated with the 80s' Rockstar.
Though we have seen many lead actors play the role of a transwoman with Raghava Lawrence and Sarathkumar in Kanchana, Vijay Sethupathi in Super Deluxe, this movie hit different because it showed the life of a transwoman on the verge of awakening, the internal gender warfare, the role of a kind confidante, the leap of faith followed by rejection, acceptance and love. The whole 9 yards.
Keerthy Suresh's performance was not just a soothing balm, she was a personification of human empathy. Her serene face, angelic demeanour showed that feminism comes in different forms, sizes and expressions. Karthik Subbaraj's nerve-hitting dialogues also hit home with Karthi's mom asking, "You could have come to me" and Karthi's childhood friend handing over her gold bangles to Subbu begging him to take care of Subbu.
The juxtaposition of 3 angry men and 3 silent women was a fight worth watching. In a way, all 3 of them played a part in giving birth to Subbu's hidden identity. However, the gruesome animalism paired with a prisoner asking Karthi to choose kindness showed not all men are the same.
Though killing a transwoman under the guise of honour is prevalent, Director Karthik Subbaraj left the audience at the edge of the seat, praying and hoping that Subbbu gets an opportunity to discover her life as a woman. The director broke the fourth wall by showing a glimpse of the a boy battling body dysphoria. The trick worked as the audience could not a accept the age-old tradition of honour killing as Subbu's life seemed to precious sudden. She deserved a chance to live her life on her own terms was the verdict.
As Karthik Subbaraj's truth bombs allowed the audience to implode in silence, he ends the film with one question that troubles every straight person's mind. What is the purpose of a transperson's existence? - They are a living, breathing test of humanity, says Karthik Subbaraj.
Dorothy will be that film that teased the strength of audience empathy and will divide the treatment of transwomen into two eras - before and after Dorothy.
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