At a theatre in Paris, French nationals who’ve just finished watching some movie are walking out of the earlier show and stare incomprehensibly at the Indian (predominantly Tamil) crowds thronging impatiently to enter the cinema hall. They walk away with an amused smile or a bewildered look at the raucous scenes. If only they knew a little about the man behind all this mania, they wouldn’t be surprised. Rajni Rajni everywhere!
Endhiran was pre-declared a superhit even before the release, going by the trailer. So expectations naturally were high, and the crowd ever-so exuberant. The title credits rolled with Pudhiya Manidha in the background, and the movie took no time whatsoever in introducing “Chitti” - the robot, the soul of the movie. The brilliance of the animation effects used in the movie was evident from the very beginning. A humanoid robot that can walk, talk and do the shtyles like “The Superstar”. Absolute treat to the eyes. The dialogues in the first half were quite humorous and the robot’s timely line delivery in all the scenes was impeccable. Rajni’s control over comedy was enough to carry forward the film for quite some time. The story developed quite neatly throughout the first half and had you accept the fact that Shankar has thought through the details and conceived the ideas very well. Even the “villain” Danny Denzongpa didn’t appear too out of place. In fact some of his actions seemed justifiable and logical in the beginning. Of course there are some places in the movie where you have to accept this is a Superstar movie and considering it’s a Rajni robot, it doesn’t give a hoot to Asimov’s laws(which is clarified by Thalaivar also).
Aishwarya Rai, still looking quite a doll for her age has played whatever minimal role she has with perfection. Some of the dance steps will bowl you over. The crowd was whistling as vigorously for Ash as it was for Rajni, in some of the songs. That shows some performance, indeed. Or maybe guys never change.
I’d not give too much detail about the second half – consider it enough to say that a Rajni fan would delight in the indulgence in “Rajni”isms. Alex Pandiyanesque style in the 2nd half, combined with the laughter is just brilliant. One can find other references too to movies like Ejaman, Padayappa, maybe even Netrikan. Those detractors who said Rajni doesn’t act any more would be silenced.
Technology is the second biggest plus to this movie after Rajni. Animatronics on par with the Hollywood biggies is indeed an achievement to be proud about for Shankar and the Indian film industry itself. The stunts by Yuen Woo Ping(who's also worked on The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, etc) are amazing, especially the train scene. The visual effects at the end, made at Stan Winston Studios are so mindboggling you will be wowed continuously. Many of Rajni’s movies used to have a snake featured(was rumoured to be for luck). In this movie, the giant snake made up of Rajni robots is quite a spectacle to watch.
A.R.Rahman’s songs have already topped the charts, but visually “Irumbile oru” and “Arima Arima” are the best. The BGM was a tad disappointing though, especially the “2.0 2.0” thing. What were they thinking, seriously! Art direction by Sabu Cyril is splendid, needless to say, as always in Shankar movies. Cinematography by R.Ratnavelu is impressive, though not award-material.
Finally, to sum up, the movie is a very different Shankar movie and also a unique Rajni film as you will find out once you watch it. Credit should be given to both the director and Thalaivar for experimenting and pulling it off rather quite well. The message about the war between man and machine, though clichéd, is new to the Indian film industry and has been rendered effectively. Overall, a thorough entertainer, this one!! Just hope Rajni has more in store in the future. Can’t even imagine the void in cinema once he quits.
Aishwarya Rai, still looking quite a doll for her age has played whatever minimal role she has with perfection. Some of the dance steps will bowl you over. The crowd was whistling as vigorously for Ash as it was for Rajni, in some of the songs. That shows some performance, indeed. Or maybe guys never change.
I’d not give too much detail about the second half – consider it enough to say that a Rajni fan would delight in the indulgence in “Rajni”isms. Alex Pandiyanesque style in the 2nd half, combined with the laughter is just brilliant. One can find other references too to movies like Ejaman, Padayappa, maybe even Netrikan. Those detractors who said Rajni doesn’t act any more would be silenced.
Technology is the second biggest plus to this movie after Rajni. Animatronics on par with the Hollywood biggies is indeed an achievement to be proud about for Shankar and the Indian film industry itself. The stunts by Yuen Woo Ping(who's also worked on The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, etc) are amazing, especially the train scene. The visual effects at the end, made at Stan Winston Studios are so mindboggling you will be wowed continuously. Many of Rajni’s movies used to have a snake featured(was rumoured to be for luck). In this movie, the giant snake made up of Rajni robots is quite a spectacle to watch.
A.R.Rahman’s songs have already topped the charts, but visually “Irumbile oru” and “Arima Arima” are the best. The BGM was a tad disappointing though, especially the “2.0 2.0” thing. What were they thinking, seriously! Art direction by Sabu Cyril is splendid, needless to say, as always in Shankar movies. Cinematography by R.Ratnavelu is impressive, though not award-material.
Finally, to sum up, the movie is a very different Shankar movie and also a unique Rajni film as you will find out once you watch it. Credit should be given to both the director and Thalaivar for experimenting and pulling it off rather quite well. The message about the war between man and machine, though clichéd, is new to the Indian film industry and has been rendered effectively. Overall, a thorough entertainer, this one!! Just hope Rajni has more in store in the future. Can’t even imagine the void in cinema once he quits.
2 comments:
In short i felt it was more of a shankar movie rather than rajni movie !! one example is the rajni intro scene (very low profile)..a similar xperience for me in theatre as well with few kiwis staring at us like "whats gng on?"
BGM was a letdown during the climax. Expected more from ARR.
"Who is the Black Sheep?" scene was my favourite
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