‘Super Sharanya’ movie review: Campus drama does not live up to its name

The typical old-school romantic drama is partly enjoyable, but misses the spark or sensibility that marked director Girish’s debut film

When ladies’ hostels are portrayed in Malayalam cinema, the gaze often has been that of an outsider, mostly that of a male trying to gain access to it or taking a look at it from far away. In Super Sharanya, at least in its enjoyable initial portions, the gaze is from the inside, with the script portraying the bonding between a group of young women in an engineering college. Yet, for a movie which sets out with such sure steps, and a seeming intent, the way it squanders it all in the latter half comes as quite a disappointment.

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Sharanya (Anaswara Rajan), a girl of low self-esteem arrives at an engineering college away from her home, only to find the situation there even worse for someone like her. Ragging from seniors and her own fears of how she is perceived by others drags her down, but a bunch of hostelmates gives her some level of confidence. But more problems are waiting for her, with some men, including a senior and a professor, developing feelings for her.