Coolie - My View

I go to every Rajini movie expecting something which we became a fan of in 80's and 90's. But I only end up saying may be in the next movie.

The truth is I do not see that magic anymore. It is seen here and there. We can see that old magic but it is lost in the noise.

Jailer was an exception, in Jailer we were presented with a different Rajini, a new magic which was refreshing to see.

I am a fan of Managaram by Lokesh. I didn't like Kaithi and I have not seen his other movies. Based on how everyone is raving about Vikram I was expecting a neatly done movie but Coolie did not satisfy movie.

The movie was too noisy for me which was the case with Annaththe. There was nothing to root for. The flashback was not meaty and it comes almost at the end of the movie. We travel with Rajini not even knowing his background. When we do not know why we need to root for someone it is difficult to engage with the movie.

Nagarjuna was typical villain. Soubin was different but didn't understand why he was doing what he was doing.

The plot of that machine sounded amateurish. 

While the music tries to elevate the scenes without background it can only do so much.

It was difficult for me to follow the story as well as it was going all over the place.

My one wish is Rajini would do a simple movie with a great story. I wish he gives it a try before he retires.

Darbar

Another Thalaivar movie and another review. With some of the older movies expectation for Rajini movie has reduced. Petta was something which delivered what 2.0, Kaala or Kabali failed to deliver. But still even with Petta there was something missing. Also when watching movie with 5 yo and 2.5 yo kid, your focus on movie will be very less. Only when you watch it second time without them we will be able to watch it with full focus.

Darbar I felt was a simple revenge movie with a climax fight between Hero and Villain. It has been presented in the backdrop of a bad Mumbai cop.

But Rajini looks even more energetic compared to Petta. He looks young with every movie and plays to his age at the same time. Except for the routine climax we can enjoy the movie as a regular movie and Thalaivar stands tall at the end.

Petta

The previous post was on 2.0 and this is my view on Petta. I don't think such a thing has happened in the past where two consecutive posts were reviews on a Rajini movie. Rajini's movies were once in a blue moon event but he broke that in 2018 by giving three movies within a short time.

My expectations from his movies has not been met for a long time. I guess it is because of the huge expectations. Even Shankar's movie's didn't satisfy me. The problem is I do not know what to expect and that could well be one of the reasons.

There is lot of negative publicity around Rajini movies especially post Baba. Chandramukhi managed to survive it but right from Sivaji there has been attempt to create negative images through talks about his movies making losses. It peaked in Linga to an extent people like to forget that such a movie was made. But if you ask me Linga was a decent attempt compared to some of the recently celebrated movies.

Now social media is filled with so called trackers who give some vague numbers as collections for all movies. Every instance is used to belittle Rajini but still he manages to overcome such negativeness.

Petta is definitely the best among his recent releases. Especially I could hear Rajini's voice also making a come back in full force. The first half is filled with such wonderful moments.

The second half starts well but at some point becomes tedious and shows traces of becoming a standard 80's 90s tamil movie with climax fight but it is kept alive by some of the twists that happens in the story.

One negative point is the number of characters and the threads in the movie can distract us. Another negative is the villain. Vijay Sethupathi didn't look like villain and Nawazzudin looked meek.

There were lot of positives through which makes it an interesting viewing. The first positive is Rajini and his energy followed by Anirudhs songs and music. Karthiks twists keeps the movie from being another ordinary movie. The DOP is great. Though Simran comes in few scenes she looks beautiful.

It is definitely a treat for Thalaivar fans.

But being Rajinikanth becomes difficult as there is lot of politics happening behind the scene to create an image that Rajinikanth is losing his popularity. Whether Rajini will come out of all these things triumphantly like in his movies is something we have to wait and watch 

2.0

After almost a week of its release I got the chance to watch the movie. When the movie was over all I was left with were mixed feelings. Nowadays mixed feelings is the only feeling after watching Rajini movies. The problem might also lie with me. I dont know what to expect from a Rajini movie anymore. I go looking for the 90's effect but all I get is something different.

Coming to 2.0 the best part is the flashback part, the rest of the move flies like a bullet train. We are not given any opportunity to settle. It just moves on from one scene to another. We are not able to relate to many of the things such as the Aura, the fifth force.

The flashback and Akshay taking revenge are usual Shankar formula but here he introduces Rajini as counter to Akshay. Rajini becomes the Prakashraj of Anniyan, Charan Raj of Gentleman. Should we root for Rajini or Akshay? The villain can be good hearted only when we are expected to root for him. It was like watching Spiderman movies where sometimes the villain's will have an emotional reason for doing what they do.

The ending was not satisfactory as Akshay is won over through emotional blackmail. So we end up with an ending like "The war of the worlds" where everything comes to an end suddenly. I still do not understand the need for Kutti. The antics of 2.0 were also irritating.

Visually the movie was very good and the quality of the end product was also stellar. The only problem is it was neither Pacific Rim nor an Indian.

We should appreciate the guts of Lyca and Shankar to invest on such a different theme where evil forces are neutralised scientifically.

ARR's music was also not something to boast about.

The waiting for a perfect Rajini movie still continues. I hope Petta satisfies that.

Kaala

Watched Kaala in PVR Grand Galada. My first time to a PVR and it was Dolby Atmos but one of the speakers at the top was vibrating and jarring at certain instances. Popcorn is 240 for regular size and they don't provide one extra cup when asked to convince a kid. The crowd to buy that popcorn has to be blamed not them for such exorbitant price. I was one among the crowd but I couldn't find an alternate way to keep my kid cool through the 3 hour movie. Yes the theater owners are having a grand time and the movie is about such corporate owners :).

*** Spoilers Ahead **
Coming to the movie even before it was released I expected Rajini to die in the end and it did happen but was surprised that it was not discussed in any of the reviews. Again I am not sure if the people misunderstood the hallucinated Rajini to be Kaala alive.

The climax with all its colors and the background score was awesome. The BGM throughout the movie was fantastic. There is also a Agni Natchathiram kind of BGM.

The movie is definitely not a Rajinikanth movie though we do get some fantastic mass moments. The movie has a raw feeling to it and it never felt like a movie even though there are some masala moments. Nana Patekar is good. Huma and the Lenin character is confusing as they keep oscillating in their decisions. Eawari Raos character is good like the Dhileepan character.

We were able to relate more to this movie than Kabali. Even Rajini looked energetic compared to Kabali. Except for those energetic numbers other songs doesn't stand out. There used to be a time when all songs in Thalaivar's movie will be chartbusters. I can't forget the days I went to the cassette recording shops to record full albums and sometimes buying the original version on the first day of audio release.

My overall view "It is not a feel good movie which Rajini movies usually are. This is a serious movie with some good mass moments and an ending which we have never seen before. The background score rocks"

Tamil Cinema and Politics

Never imagined that a day will come when we will see the last of Kamal and Rajini movies. With current path they have chosen Kamal has already indicated that Indian 2 will be his last. Rajini hasn't confirmed yet. In the euphoria of their political entry no one is actually talking about the void this will leave in Tamil Cinema. At least Rajini has been playing hide and seek about his last movie but Kamal's move was totally unexpected. We always thought he will never leave cinema.

The debate or Rajini vs Kamal is still one of the most favorite topic in Tamil Cinema but now it has to be discussed in the context of politics. Lot of unexpected things only proves that it is difficult to predict life.

Welcome Thalaiva

Being Rajinikanth

Being Rajinikanth is very difficult. Till the advent of the social media I did not see so much negativity. Every word he says and every move he makes is given a negative meaning. It is indeed surprising how he manages this and still able to work on movies. It is very difficult to ignore such negative remarks. Though it is a possibility it is only a small number voices such negative remarks but that is the only remark we see in social media. I did not see a single positive comment except from some dedicated Rajini fan groups.

Though I agree that some of his traits of not conveying what's on his mind clearly and always providing a stoic silence as his response to many of the critiques on him is up for debate I do not think that it warrants such negative remarks.

I really wish he clears all ambiguity on 31st Dec as already announced. If he again provides an ambiguous statement then it will only make being Rajinikanth a lot more difficult.

Rightmantra

I came to know about Sundar through his website www.onlysuperstar.com. I used to follow his website very closely for Rajini related updates which he used to give in a interesting manner. Once I even had the opportunity to talk to him through phone. Though it was once I remember the conversation very well.

I also witnessed his move from www.onlysuperstar.com to www.rightmantra.com. This was indeed a big change. I still wonder what made him to change his direction. Once he moved to his new website I didn't notice any reference to Rajini in any of his post. I even used to wonder if he still considered himself as Rajini's fan.

He became a full time website manager and then I stopped monitoring his website but occasionally used to wonder if he was still running the website.

His new avatar was totally different it made me see a different side of him. I used to wonder can a person be as humble as him. He even had a apt nick name simplesundar.

Today accidentally I came across the news that he met with an accident today and he is no more.

I am at loss of words. I immediately visited his website and found he had even posted an article yesterday.

This just reminds that death is just right at our doorstep and the distance between life and death is just a simple line.

I have never met him in person but our common interest brought us close. I have just had one conversation with him but his passing away is like losing a very good friend. It is now very painful to go back and read his old posts in www.rightmantra.com.

I never thought I will be writing a post on him.

Sundar, you will be missed.

Engeyo Kaeta Kural

I happened to watch this movie in Jaya TV today. This is one of the few movies in which Rajini chose to do something outside the regular commercial formula which he is dishing out nowadays. Only when watching these movies we really feel at the decision of Rajini not to do an offbeat movie. Rajini has proved his mettle in doing character roles in many movies and they were successful too but still he chose the commercial route.

People call that Rajini took the easiest route compared to Kamal but I think it is the other way around. For Rajini if the film is successful he is safe else he will be trashed for making a flop movie and for doing commercial movies. In Kamal's case it is a very safe passage. If the movie is a hit he will be praised that he is the man who can make an offbeat movie a commercial success. If it fails he will be praised more saying people didnt understand his view. So either way he is safe.

I feel Rajini despite having the potential to do such artsy movies chose the commerical route and robbed us of some fine movies.

I wish Rajini goes backs to his roots and provides one solid performance based role before he signs off from movies. That will be a treat to watch.

Lingaa

A Super Star release has always been a grand affair right from my childhood days. It always brings out lot of excitement. Lingaa is no exception. Should plan to watch Lingaa soon.

Kochadaiyan

Watched Kochadaiyan today at Sathyam and was pleasantly surprised. From the day the movie was announced I have been negative about this movie owing to the track record of Soundarya. I never thought this movie would see the release date and was very skeptical about the quality. But when I saw the movie today it was not as bad as I feared and in fact it was a enjoyable fare.

After reading so many reviews both good and bad and listening to the comments from people who had seen both good and bad my expectation was in control. While watching the movie I was especially keenly observing for all the negative points I heard and read and was surprised it was not the way I heard and it was better.

Overall the movie has interesting story line and dialogues by KSR supported by great music by ARR and to top it has Super Star.

It was a very good experience its really sad to see some small section of the people make it look like a disaster.

Kochadaiiyaan - Audio

Writing the name of this film with the right spelling is a nightmare as there are two i's and two a's. I never thought this movie will see the light as it was directed by Soundarya who is just famous for launching movies but not releasing them. But proving me wrong the trailer and audio has been released and the movie might indeed see the light.

What was impressive about the trailer was the sound effects and Rajini's voice. Rajini's voice which was lacking its punch in previous movies is back in form. On the visual effects it does leave a kind of mixed feelings. As there is a huge crowd waiting to laugh at the movie even a small slide will give them the reason for that. If it is a Kamal film people would say atleast he tried but it will not be the case for a Rajini movie.

Coming to the audio I can say that AR has given his best even though the movie is not like a normal movie. Each song is a different experience. To be frank on first listening except for Manapennin Sathiyam all other songs gave a let down feeling.

After listening to the songs on my Yamaha system the songs and the orchestration sounded excellent. None of the songs have the usual Rajini song feel or a simple catchy tune. They are very different and though it is cliche I have to say it takes multiple listening to like the songs. I am sure the songs would sound great in theaters with great sound systems. I just hope that the movie is as good as the songs.

Confusion

There are lot of things to write about but at the same time there is nothing much to write about. Whatever I am going to say has already been said and its difficult to be non repetitive.

How can there be a post without my favorite topic Chennai. It just drizzled in Chennai and Chennai transforms into Venice. For the water starved Chennaites rains brings misery instead of cheer. When you wake up and notice its raining outside you can already feel that sick feeling in your stomach.

Traffic comes to standstill and roads have potholes that can trip T-Rex.

On Kochadaiiyaan teaser, to be frank I never had any hopes that this movie will even see daylight. I still feel the same as we haven't been shown anything significant. There can be two reasons why nothing is being revealed. One the film has really come out magnificently and they genuinely want to maintain secrecy, two there is no movie except for 2 or 3 stills and 10 sec teaser. It's time to see some really good movie from Rajinikanth which hasn't been happening for sometime.

Rana

Rana posters are out but for some reason there is not much excitement from it as other Rajni has generated in the past.

What could be the reason for this?

First and foremost Rana looks like another version of "Sultan the Warrior" about which we only kept hearing stories that its coming today, tomorrow and day after tomorrow.

Involvement of Soundarya Rajnikanth in Rana makes matters worse. I dont know if Ocher studios ever did anything well.

The director of the movie again another reason for less excitement.

The story, which they say is a period drama is not a good news. I have a feeling Rajni after chandramukhi has been thinking that the king look and villainic persona will carry him to places. Thats the reason we keep seeing in Kings look (Chandramukhi, Sivaji, Kuselan) and Villain persona (Chandramukhi, Sivaji, Enthiran).Now he plans to repeat the same in Rana.

Eros is another reason,they may disown the project anytime.

I have a strong feeling this movie is not going to see the day but if it does I m not sure if this will generate enough interest to be a blockbuster. If it still manages to become a blockbuster I will be happy for Rajni. But I wish he had chosen something different this time.

Happy Birthday

Enthiran - Robot

The wait was long 2 yrs during its making and 10 days after its release. Finally saw Enthiran at Devi at mount road.

It's always a pleasure to wait for a Rajni movie. Reading so many news that comes out during its making and looking at the occasional stills that come out always increases the expectations for the movie. That too when Shankar joins hands with Rajni then the expectations double.

Coming to the theater I know Devi has one of the worst enterance for a theater and expected chaos but hoped there will be better traffic management but as expected it was horrible. To park your vehicle you nees special skillset. After parking got the tickets and there was a queue to enter into the cinema hall.

The hall was huge and the airconditioning was great and it looked pretty good. The theater was full.

Now all set and I started to enjoy the final moments before watching the most expected movie.

The movie opens up with Sun picture logo and Kalanithi Maran name. Then comes the much awaited Superstar logo which has been changed and it looks good but the background score doesnt have same effect.

The movie doesnt waste time and goes straight to the point and we see Rajni minus usual intro. From then on Shankar doesnt waste any moment he just tries to explain the concept of Robot in layman's terms and he succeeds to a large extent and the audiences are'nt bored either.

There are couple of scenes especially the romance scenes between Rajni and Aiswarya which stands out without any link to the story. They jus act as starters for songs.

Rajni as the scientist just hangs around in the first half but Chitti steals the show. Shankar sets the base for second half very well. The first half is breezy.

The second half also starts off well and ends well with some awesome graphics never seen even before.

Music is a total let down atleast in first viewing the music did not stand out as expected. Songs were hopeless comparatively Sivaji song picturisation was very good. Though Rajni and Aiswarya look great in the songs the choreography was not there at all. Rajni doesnt do any steps he just walks, smiles and gives the usual pose. So none of the songs had that energy. Kilimanjaro was colourful and Arima was slightly better of the lot.

Rajni for some reason doesnt show much action he mostly relies on his charisma. Though as villain Robot he is awesome he is not in his usual elements and the story also doesnt give scope for any Rajnisms. The chitti dance was awesome though we know it must be someone else behind the Rajni mask it was just awesome. In Sivaji Shankar showed us what if Rajni was was white, here Shankar shows what if Michale Jackson had the looks of Rajni. Similarly the train fight scene was awesome. I could see Rajni has become a bit lean especially in the initial scientist role he looks very lean. The scientist Rajni for some reason reminded me of Jhonny barber Rajni.

The graphics at the end is just awesome I was afraid that there might look amatuerish but it was thoroughly professional.

Aiswarya rai looks good in most of the scenes sometimes her age can be seen.

The movie is totaly a directors movie that is Shankars movie and Rajni occupies the movie from start to end. There is no scope for anyone else. As a director Shankar has excelled. Though the movie has a classy look during scenes set indoor the outdoor scenes gives the movie a local look with hopeless Indian police chase, Petrol tanker lorry etc.

At some places the dialogue was just hopeless especially when the scientist Rajni scolds the Robot. He uses pakka local words like Poriki, Maramandai etc. If Kamal had played the role I m not sure he would have uttered the same dialgoues. Otherwise the dialgoues were good. I enjoyed the arguments between Chitti and Vaseegaran. There are many quality dialogues which we have never seen before in Rajni movies. For the first time I saw Rajni uttering Kavidhai on screen. Also he uses lot of English words and complicated Tamil words too. These were first time seen in Rajni movie.

After long time Rajni's movie makes us emotional in many scenes.

Though we have seen many english movies this movie has not borrowed any scenes may be Terminator part 1.

Overall its a different Rajni movie its also different Tamil movie. Though everything was good about the movie it just didnt make me go ga ga (The last scenes did make me go gaga). Even Avatar didnt do it for me. I might watch it once more and there have been times when I have loved movies only during second viewing. As a Shankar movie, the movie rocks but as a Rajni movie I expected fireworks from Rajni which I didnt get though I could occasionally see the sparks in Villain Robot's performance.

Celebration begins with Endhiran

Enthiran

Two more days for the most awaited movie. It is like a festival here. The celebration just gets bigger and bigger. The only sad thing is after couple of days the euphoria will die and it will be like the day after Deepavali. All back to work nothing more to look forward too.

Hope Rajini announces his next movie soon.

எந்திரன்

எங்கும் எந்திரன் எதிலும் எந்திரன்