Sriram Ananthashankar's Rocket Driver, just like the recently released Meiyazhagan, revolves around a broken man who changes over the course of a day after meeting another man.
Vishvath plays Prabha, who has big, sprawling ambitions but is forced to quit his science degree and run an auto for a living. He is exasperated at things around him, dismissing everyone around as dumb and unworthy. There is a nice stretch early on where, throughout his day, whenever he gets annoyed with someone, he imagines being in a made-up situation where he scolds them. What happens when Prabha runs into a teenager who seems to have landed from 1948, who happens to be one of India's most renowned scientists, APJ Abdul Kalam?
At a concept-level, this is a brilliant idea that ties nicely into the film's main character. Externally, Abdul Kalam is everything Prabha wants to be; he even has a sticker of Kalam in his auto. But internally, Kalam represents everything Prabha has misunderstood about life: that simple things don't matter, that everything needs to have a big purpose and meaning. A man from the 1940s landing in 2023 lends ample opportunities for not only social commentary but also comedy. For instance, when the teenage Kalam (Naga Vishal) gets to meet his friend (Kathadi Ramamurthy) in 2023, he exclaims, "Dei Shastri!!" to who is now an old man. And why does Kalam get transported to the present day? The reason is both silly and sweet at the same time: does it have to be a matter of national security, or can it just be a small personal motive?
However, these ideas are not explored to their full potential. The smaller issue is the pace. Rocket Driver unfolds so leisurely that it could make Meiyazhagan look like a Hari film. But that's really okay considering its rarity in the midst of all the adrenaline-pumping, hyper-violent films that have been ruling the roost. The bigger issue is the lack of drama. It seems like a missed opportunity when you bring back such a prominent figure and do so little with him. Kalam, for the most part, is highly clueless and quiet, which is rather perplexing for a future scientist who landed in a timeline 75 years later. Does he not want to at least know what happens in the future or actively figure out a way to go back to his home? The middle portions of the film are emotionless and stale, with the overbearing background music desperately trying to make things interesting. Vishvath has a perpetually irritated expression that goes well with his character, and Sunainaa as his friend has a comforting presence, although I wish she had been given much more to do. There are a bunch of laughter-inducing moments that land organically. I laughed out loud at a scene where, in an attempt to take Kalam back in time, Prabha boards a bus to Rameshwaram with him and forces him to sleep. But the fun quotient in scenes like these doesn't get fully materialised on screen. In other words, we can see the potential here waiting to burst out, but what we end up getting is rather a dripping out of this potential.
Rocket Driver doesn't try to say or do much. This is a very simple story, and rightly so, in tune with its overall message. Not all films need to burst with energy and events, but when you have a rocket, why just nudge it instead of drive?