Finally saw the film on Friday the 15th of June after being excited about it for almost 2 years. I still have the news clip from SUN TV that announced this movie on my DVR , if that does not tell you how much I expected from this movie !!
Anyway , The movie was a TREAT , thoroughly enjoyable , nearly 200 minutes of entertainment , that makes you forget your day to day worries.
Now, does that mean it was a great movie ...Not really. The movie was just Rajni..Rajni..and Rajni all the way. The movie had its Shankar elements for about 30 minutes post intermission , but thats about it. But I wont go as far as to say that anyone could have made this movie. Because Shankar has worked too hard in the execution of minor details , throughout the movie ,but again this does not translate to flawlessness. The movie has its own share of flaws. But Rajni , makes you forget all those and just enjoy the movie.
Now on to my Grades ( 1 - 10 , 10 being the best )
KV Anand - 7
Nothing exceptional from him, though he has made a strong effort to avoid bad angles for Rajni. Strong stuff with the song picturisation , but the sets let him down in Sahaana.
which..brings me to ...
Thotta Tharani - 4
He should have got a higher grade tham this , if he didnt screw up Sahana. The set was pathetic. This song should have been shot outdoors. The sets looked like something out of an old Bagyaraj/T Rajendhar movie. But he did do well in Athiradee and Vaji Vaji.
Peter Heinz - 5
One word for the fights - Overdose. One should know , who they are working with. Rajni fights should be more stylish , not more powerful. Vikram , in Anniyan , fighting 30 guys or pushing 10 guys at once , looked believable , but with Rajni , it just doesn't fit.I did like the close up's for Rajni during the fights , where he growls like a lion. Poor attempt of humor in the first fight , which was too long and excruciatingly painful....
which brings me to
Anthony - 5
The first half looks butchered and Anthony deserves most of the blame alongwith Shankar. There were too many cuts across scenes and story lines. Nothing to write home about for Anthony , except the work in the Style song.
Choreography - By song
Ballelakka - 4 - Not upto expectations , lacks quickness in cuts/movements and drags.
Vaji - 6 - Sets made you forget everything else. (side note : Shreya looked AWESOME)
Sahana - 3 - Enough said - they wasted an awesome song
Style - 7 - Great picturisation and well edited for the movements
Athiradee - 10 - Awesome execution - Neat planning - About 10 times better than muqabla where Shankar had a similar backdrop
ARR - 6
The songs were awesome , but ARR could have done a better job of re-recording. Most of the first half was lacking speed because of his poor background score. Most of his RR was a rehash of songs. He might be the master composer today in the Indian Film industry , but definitely lags behind Ilayaraja ( in miles ) when it comes to background score.
Shankar - 5
Shankar has done a good job of execution but has let us down with his usual twists and turns in all his movies. The screenplay is predictable. The only complaint is we didn't get enough of him
Actors
Vivek - 8
Awesome performance , gives the film a much needed lift , when it drags
Shreya - 7
Does her job well....which is to look real good !!
Suman - 6
Played his part well , but the dubbing seems off..at certain points.
Rajnikanth - 10
The reason I give him a perfect 10..is not because his histrionics are Oscar worthy , but because of his effort. You can see that he has put his heart and soul into this role. I'm sure 40 to 50% of his call sheet was spent in make-up. Its really difficult for a star of his stature to basically , shut up and put up , with whatever Shankar expected from him. Kudos to Rajinikanth...He carries this behemoth on his 57 year old shoulders and does a fine job at that.
Overall , the movie is not perfect , but Its a perfect Rajnikanth film and as someone said...What Rajni does is not stylish...What Rajni does becomes style... is proved in Sivaji , once again.
