2023 Wrap: Leo To Animal, The Best Intro Scenes of The Year

Intro scenes have always been an intrinsic part of our films — a reason for fans to get off their seats and celebrate the first glimpse of their stars. But these scenes today increasingly pack a tiny character study for us to eat up even before we dig in. In Leo, for instance, Parthi’s introduction isn’t made for revel. As early as the first shot, we know this man — as strong as he is — is on edge. These scenes also aren’t necessarily reserved to just tentpole films. The earphones that Chaitra J Aachar’s Surabhi enjoys with abandon at the back of a Toyota Qualis is enough to pique Manu’s interest and ours. In this list, we write about some of the best character introductions of the year.

Vikram Rathore in Jawan

Azad (Shah Rukh Khan) and Narmada (Nayanthara) are being thoroughly thrashed by Kalee’s (Vijay Sethupathi) henchmen. Just when all hope is lost, a mysterious hammer comes hurtling into the screen and begins knocking out the baddies. As two more thugs go flying, we see a silhouette emerge from the shadows, wielding a club with a spinning edge, studded with sharp spokes. As epic music plays in the background, Vikram Singh Rathore makes his grand entry, cigar in mouth and a falcon gliding by to reinforce his coolness. Shah Rukh Khan has a great number of entry scenes in Jawan, but an older version of the elusive Vikram Rathore swooping in to save the day right before the interval has to be the most iconic. Khan laces the character with an effortless charisma, even as he takes time in between beating up the bad guys to blow artful puffs of smoke into the camera. Rathore single-handedly takes on about a dozen thugs, a tremendously skilled fighter despite his traumatic past and lost memory. His powerful yet precise moves belie his slightly advanced age, and he is all the more attractive for it. Later in the fight, Rathore takes off his belt and begins to (literally) whip the bad guys into shape. Theatres erupted in cheers when he finally reveals his name (James Bond style; “Rathore. Vikram Rathore”), before carrying his unconscious son out of the room — irrefutably cementing his position as the coolest Shah Rukh in this film. 

Abrar Haque in Animal

We’re well past the halfway mark and deep in the bowels of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal when we get a star entry. The scene splits to reveal a pair of kohl-lined eyes looking straight into the camera. Strains of “Jamal Kudu” — which is actually the Farsi song “Jamal Jamaloo”, a regular fixture in Iranian weddings — filter in, the cheerful voices offering a dramatic contrast to the dark mayhem of the preceding scenes. The camera pulls back to show a pair of heavy-lidded eyes, gleaming with mischief, a full beard and the glint of a devilish smile. Meet Abrar, the arch villain of Animal, played by Bobby Deol. Within a couple of minutes, Abrar will become the physical manifestation of every Islamophobic cliché, but before that happens, Deol gets to show off Abrar’s charming side. Dressed in a blue suit and rocking a stunning emerald necklace, Abrar dances playfully to the chorus of “Jamal Jamaloo”, balancing a glass of alcohol atop his curly mane. There’s an effervescence to Abrar which feels refreshing after hours in the brooding Vijay’s (Ranbir Kapoor) company. You’d never guess that this same Abrar will, in quick succession, marry his third wife; murder a man; rape his third wife, assault the second, slap the first and have a threesome with all of them. Abrar’s role in Animal is short, savage and rife with offensive insinuations, but thanks to “Jamal Jamaloo” and Deol’s zaddy era, he gets a glorious entry scene.

Parthiban - Leo

The first glimpse we catch of Parthiban in Leo is his eyes through the rear view mirror of his car. “We have a situation. It’s an emergency. Can you come here?” his friend Joshy asks him over the phone, and we see an emotion from this hero that we often don’t. The eyes show the slightest glint of fear. Parthiban lives a double life in Kashmir, trying his darndest to bury his darker side. So, the word “emergency” rings an alarm, but when he realises it’s a predicament that’s got to do with wildlife, strength returns and the threatened hyena is safely tackled. The scene has a lot more to do with the hyena — a delightful Subramani who returns in one of the most glorious action scenes in the film — it is also a marker of what Parthiban stands for. How can a man who strives to save even a deadly hyena, gun down 5 men? 

A few scenes later, he slips away to hide in the crowd, for there is no time for glory. He turns back and just when expect a smirk or delight to engulf his face, fear returns even as the title card celebrates his machismo with pomp — a delicious irony in a film in which the more compelling intro scene is reserved for Parthiban and not Leo. 

Surbhi - Sapta Sagaradache Ello - Side B

After a devastating blow to his heart at the end of SSE - Side A, Rakshit Shetty’s Manu lives the remainder of his prison sentence (ten years) without love and Priya. He is released in 2020 and tries to assimilate back into society but is still haunted by the memory of the love of his life. He misses her affection mentally and physically and to combat his touch-starvation, goes to a prostitute. Here we meet Chaithra J Achar’s Surbhi. 

We first do not see her as she is in the dark at the back of a Toyota Qualis which has a bunch of sex workers sitting and waiting for their turn. She is listening to music with her earphones and is nonchalant, making no effort to make herself appealing to the customer. However, it is that which attracts Manu. He tells the pimp, “I want that girl who is wearing earphones.” Then begins a beautiful sequence that establishes what Surbhi brings to the table for Manu. Underscored by Charan Raj’s beautiful song ‘Gaaju Koodide’, Manu and Surbhi go to a hotel room while Manu imagines her to be Priya. Surbhi knows that she is not the girl of his dreams, but she still plays the part of the dreamgirl, acting as a proxy for Manu when he needs affection. This introduction just proves that point, as she increasingly becomes that part of Manu’s life.

Alliyus Caesar in Jigarthanda DoubleX

“Kaatu payaluku simhasanama?” a man casually berates Alliyus Ceaser seconds before his entry. He unleashes his whip, which stylishly wraps the two ivory tusks that sit on the throne. While we quickly move on from this throwaway line, our focus steered on to the way he manages to keep his throne safe, this line is what separates the film from many other entertainers. Alliyus Caesar is many things: an ivory dealer, a gangster and a ruthless beast who will kill for money. But the second half — which sneaks up on us almost with its immediate change of tone and tenor — tells us that Alliyus, above all, is a man of his forest, in whose blood remains a constant responsibility to save the elephants and humans of his land. As the film progresses, we realise that the tusks that sit on the throne aren't just for decoration, but a deep-seated metaphor for where he comes from. 

Jamal Abdul Musthafa Hussain in Daredevil Musthafa

Long before the lovely Shishir Baikady steps into the frame in this Kannada film, directed by Shashank Soghal, your curiosity peaks as to who is the new boy who’s entering college. And about whom everyone is having a debate. His name is written without a space on the board as : Jamalabdulmusthafahussain, and everyone struggles to make sense of it, before they learn to split it as Jamal Abdul Musthafa Hussain. So, how will someone refuse admission to a boy who is good in sports, extra curricular activities, academics, and someone who has saved a boy from drowning? And what change will this boy bring to the village of Abachur?

Robert in RDX 

More in line with the massy introduction scenes usually seen in mainstream cinema, but with some great writing that lands the punch. The film starring Anthony Varghese, Shane Nigam and Neeraj Madhav in the lead roles, is essentially a family fighting back against a group of ruffians over a brutal house invasion. The movie sets up the emotional weight of the premise in the first act with great economy and builds up the momentum for the hero’s return. The scene, even though simple by design, of Shane Nigam coming to know about the tragedy that has befallen his family is a tightly constructed scene that gains momentum by way of smart back and forth structure. 

The film shows him in the present timeline working in a low paying job, after a bitter farewell from his family in the past. The straightforward scene of his learning about his family’s crisis resonates due to the dramatical impact of the hero being estranged from his loved ones. That emotional weight drives the scene’s underlying conflict and gives the audience a release from the pent up anxiety as to how the hero is going to react to the sad news. Shane Nigam performs this scene with a straight face though his body language suggests otherwise. This contrast of setting, performance and writing and structure make this a nicely put together sequence that sets up the stakes and emotional gravity, without undercutting the impact.

ASI George Martin in Kannur Squad 

Early on in Kannur Squad, we get a sequence where a jeep is parked on the side of an empty road and we see hands of a person sitting in shotgun position, running his fingers over the front door, clearly waiting for someone. We then cut to a few routing build up shots that we usually associate with a hero introduction scene and the experienced commercial cinema lover in us is already waiting for the action to start. We get the tight close up of the eyes in the rear mirror and the swooping background score picks up ever so lightly. But director Rony David Raj then goes on to invert those expectations with a simple two shot flip, where he cuts to a hand switching on the wipers and we get a complimentary shot from the front in high speed that captures the hero giving us his first glimpse, with the wipers clearing out the murky glasses revealing his face ever so slowly. No action, no lines and no punches being drawn! 

Superstar Mammooty is shown to us with little fanfare and the audience, well versed with the cinematic grammar of star vehicles latch on to the stripped down machismo on show. This scene is important as it teaches the viewer the tonality and texture that the makers are going for. Kannur Squad is a police procedural about a group of down and out cops trying to chase down affluent and well planned criminals across the country. However, contrary to the exaggerated, over the staples of films with cops as the protagonists, this simplification also helps in establishing the every-man quality of the hero as a narrative shorthand. That helps in slowly acclimatizing the viewers to the tropes one might expect from such a prestige project, that is treated with a toned down approach echoing real life rhythms. 

Deva in Salaar

Drama and larger-than-life heroism go hand-in-hand, complementing each other in Prasanth Neel's Salaar and that's a fitting way to describe Deva's entry in the film too. While Prashanth goes full throttle with the introduction of Rocky Bhai in both the KGF films, he keeps it simplistic yet impactful in Salaar. Rocky couldn't have asked for a grander welcome when he steps out of the helicopter in KGF: Chapter 2 and ascend the throne. In Salaar, the scale is much smaller but the emotion is conveyed through a great dialogue with Deva's mother, encapsulating the character's celebrated violent nature. The dialogue speaks about the importance of a good upbringing, comparing children to a raw material that can be either molded into a source of light or weapons that could lead to bloodshed. This dialogue exalts a simple act of Deva coming home in the evening after work into a strong intro scene, warning us that the man is a volcano waiting to erupt.

Balakrishna in Veera Simha Reddy

Veera Simha Reddy might have been a trainwreck from start to finish, but there's one particular sequence that stands out in this otherwise temper-testing ride. A Sankranthi entertainer with not one but two Balayyas naturally warrants a dozen entry scenes and the sequence where we see the titular character — the older, wilder, meaner Balakrishna — takes the cake. It's a true-blue Telugu mass entry designed to make the fans go berserk. A leonine preamble, summarising the virtuous legacy of patriarch Veera Simha Reddy segues into a face reveal that's both simplistic and grand, as we see the man participate in a temple yaagam for the prosperity of his people. He then goes to attend the marriage ceremony of around 200 couples (yes, you heard that right) that he's organising and is greeted with sheer adulation by the hoi polloi. Thaman's rousing background score uplifts the sequence and makes it the only memorable bit in a movie that's otherwise bitter and forgettable. It's restatement to the fact that the 'Hero Entry' will always remain something we look forward to.

With inputs from Sruthi Ganapathy Raman, Ram Venkat Srikar, Subha J Rao, Sharanya Kumar, Nishanth A, Arjun Menon and Deepanjana Pal.