The Sivaji Movie Review
I am not an avid Rajni fan. I'm not a member of his fan club, nor am I someone who can spend a lot of his hard earned money to spend 3 hours in a theater to see the Super Star's movie on the first day. But take my word, the man has charisma. I have never seen a premiere show of any movie, Nor have I seen any movie on the first day of its release. But the hype surrounding 'Sivaji - The Boss', did whet my appetite a little. And the trailer doing rounds on all the websites, news channels covering it as primetime news, seeing my friends counting days for Sivaji's release could only increase my curiosity in the movie. I love Shankar's movies and A.R.Rahman is the god of music as far as I am concerned. So I couldn't afford to miss Sivaji. What if I was in London? With a little googling and some free time, I finally managed to book a few tickets for the preview show on the 14th in Feltham. I was going to see it a few hours before it was released in India, and the first show in the UK. Boy this was getting exciting. I was still wondering if it was going to live up to the unpreceedented hype it had generated.
Well ladies and gents, let me be the first one to tell you that Sivaji rocks - Big time. Its masala cinema and Super Star style at its best. It is more a Rajni film than a Shankar film. Rajni carries the entire film on his shoulder, and let me tell you, at almost 60, those shoulders are still strong enough to carry an entire film. He has put in a lot of effort in the dance and fight sequences and one can see that in the film. And with Shankar at the helm, he has managed to pass on a message to the public - Super Star style...
There are a lot of versions of the story doing the rounds on the internet, and believe me none of them are entirely true. There is not too much of a Shankar's type story to be honest. The movie begins with the hero behind bars (the theater went wild, even on seeing the hero's face covered during the intro, and this was in London. How I wish I was in India during this scene) with a smile explaining to his cell mate that he was here because he did good to people (Kind of reminded me of Manirathnam's Guru) and a flashback to explain what happened. Well the story is about a software engineer (ahem?) who after having studying, earning and saving a huge fortune at onsite (excuse the lingo - occupational hazard you see) returns to his homeland to do service to people. He plans to build a University and a Medical College and Hospital and give free education and healthcare to the needy. However there is one man who does not want Sivaji to succeed, and that man is Adhisesavan (Suman, in a well cast role), as that would hit his business of selling seats for huge capitation in his own college. The crux of the story is how Sivaji gets cornered by Adhi, becomes penniless and then post interval transforms into a one man government to do good to the people. I wouldn't go too much into the story, not that it would give away much, but because the small incidents in the movie are a treat to watch. Watchout for the Rajni Suman confrontation immediately after interval, the crowd went berzerk at the dialogues.
The first half of the film is a tad slow, but Vivek and Rajni rule the screen and it is a laugh riot. If you are a regular Sun TV watcher, then the pattimandram crew (Solomon Pappiah, Raja) is also a part of the comedy brigade in this movie. Vivek is almost in every sequence with Rajni during the first half as Rajni's young maternal Uncle. Its after a long time that Rajni has done so much comedy in a movie. Shreya plays Rajni's love interest Tamil Selvi and frankly she doesn't have much to do except look coy and pretty during the movie and glamourous and sassy during the songs, and she does a good job at that. Manivannan and Vadivukkarasi play Rajni's mom and dad desperate to get him married. Raguvaran appears in a couple of scenes and there are a lot of other actors playing a lot of small roles. There are a quite a few comic references to other actors and comedians in the movie for the sake of fun. Rajini even appears as a few yester-year greats in a sequence. And I can see a lot of youngsters popping in a chewing gum, Rajni style, already. "Enna adhurudhu la"
The second half is the powerful part of the film. If the first half was focussed on comedy, this is more of action. However there are not as many punch dialogues as one would expect in a Rajni movie, as Vivek says in the movie, that nowadays every small kid comes waving a finger and blasting out a punch dialogue. There are some over the top action sequences which define logic, but then it is a tamil movie so ideally you shouldn't be complaining. The last 30 odd minutes of the movie are definitely the ones to watch out for. One sees a totally different Rajini in those minutes. Backed up by some pulsating background score by A.R.Rehman the climax is Rajni at his peak in style and action. Barring a few close up shots, Rajni looks awesome and really young (and really white :) ) throughout most of the film.
The songs are shot well, but maybe the expense is not really justified. But then, that is Shankar's style. The adidhadi song had me excited like a young kid watching superman. Pure fanboy delight material. The songs would have had a lot of money gone into them for the sets and lighting, and that shows up elegantly on the screen. A slim Nayanthara shows up for the Balleilaka song, which I thought could have had a more rustic touch to it. The oru koodai sunlight song was... well, funny. It was fun to see a fair Rajnikanth jigging with wierd hairdo-s and white chics. A litlle overdone, but good nevertheless.
Finally the message of the movie is how black money is ruining the country. It stresses on the importance of paying taxes. Shankar's touches are clearly visible and it does give a deja-vu of the 'Indian' days. On the whole, this is a product that could be sold to the masses on wholesale. There is everything in it for the entire family audience and die hard Super Star fans. After a long hiatus seeing Rajni at his stylish best is definitely a treat to watch, and I am sure will keep the cash registers ringing. My humble verdict. All that hype has been justified by Sivaji. Rajni, Shankar and A.R.Rehman... Take a bow.
To add to that, there was a trailer of an animation movie by Rajni's daughter which could become the staple diet of Rajni's fans after Sivaji. It is an animated movie called Sultan. And Rajini stars in it as a Super-hero character called Sultan. The rushes look promising and the effects could give Final Fantasy a run for its money. That looks promising too. But for now. Its Sivaji all the way. Vartaa... Cool...
Well ladies and gents, let me be the first one to tell you that Sivaji rocks - Big time. Its masala cinema and Super Star style at its best. It is more a Rajni film than a Shankar film. Rajni carries the entire film on his shoulder, and let me tell you, at almost 60, those shoulders are still strong enough to carry an entire film. He has put in a lot of effort in the dance and fight sequences and one can see that in the film. And with Shankar at the helm, he has managed to pass on a message to the public - Super Star style...
There are a lot of versions of the story doing the rounds on the internet, and believe me none of them are entirely true. There is not too much of a Shankar's type story to be honest. The movie begins with the hero behind bars (the theater went wild, even on seeing the hero's face covered during the intro, and this was in London. How I wish I was in India during this scene) with a smile explaining to his cell mate that he was here because he did good to people (Kind of reminded me of Manirathnam's Guru) and a flashback to explain what happened. Well the story is about a software engineer (ahem?) who after having studying, earning and saving a huge fortune at onsite (excuse the lingo - occupational hazard you see) returns to his homeland to do service to people. He plans to build a University and a Medical College and Hospital and give free education and healthcare to the needy. However there is one man who does not want Sivaji to succeed, and that man is Adhisesavan (Suman, in a well cast role), as that would hit his business of selling seats for huge capitation in his own college. The crux of the story is how Sivaji gets cornered by Adhi, becomes penniless and then post interval transforms into a one man government to do good to the people. I wouldn't go too much into the story, not that it would give away much, but because the small incidents in the movie are a treat to watch. Watchout for the Rajni Suman confrontation immediately after interval, the crowd went berzerk at the dialogues.
The first half of the film is a tad slow, but Vivek and Rajni rule the screen and it is a laugh riot. If you are a regular Sun TV watcher, then the pattimandram crew (Solomon Pappiah, Raja) is also a part of the comedy brigade in this movie. Vivek is almost in every sequence with Rajni during the first half as Rajni's young maternal Uncle. Its after a long time that Rajni has done so much comedy in a movie. Shreya plays Rajni's love interest Tamil Selvi and frankly she doesn't have much to do except look coy and pretty during the movie and glamourous and sassy during the songs, and she does a good job at that. Manivannan and Vadivukkarasi play Rajni's mom and dad desperate to get him married. Raguvaran appears in a couple of scenes and there are a lot of other actors playing a lot of small roles. There are a quite a few comic references to other actors and comedians in the movie for the sake of fun. Rajini even appears as a few yester-year greats in a sequence. And I can see a lot of youngsters popping in a chewing gum, Rajni style, already. "Enna adhurudhu la"
The second half is the powerful part of the film. If the first half was focussed on comedy, this is more of action. However there are not as many punch dialogues as one would expect in a Rajni movie, as Vivek says in the movie, that nowadays every small kid comes waving a finger and blasting out a punch dialogue. There are some over the top action sequences which define logic, but then it is a tamil movie so ideally you shouldn't be complaining. The last 30 odd minutes of the movie are definitely the ones to watch out for. One sees a totally different Rajini in those minutes. Backed up by some pulsating background score by A.R.Rehman the climax is Rajni at his peak in style and action. Barring a few close up shots, Rajni looks awesome and really young (and really white :) ) throughout most of the film.
The songs are shot well, but maybe the expense is not really justified. But then, that is Shankar's style. The adidhadi song had me excited like a young kid watching superman. Pure fanboy delight material. The songs would have had a lot of money gone into them for the sets and lighting, and that shows up elegantly on the screen. A slim Nayanthara shows up for the Balleilaka song, which I thought could have had a more rustic touch to it. The oru koodai sunlight song was... well, funny. It was fun to see a fair Rajnikanth jigging with wierd hairdo-s and white chics. A litlle overdone, but good nevertheless.
Finally the message of the movie is how black money is ruining the country. It stresses on the importance of paying taxes. Shankar's touches are clearly visible and it does give a deja-vu of the 'Indian' days. On the whole, this is a product that could be sold to the masses on wholesale. There is everything in it for the entire family audience and die hard Super Star fans. After a long hiatus seeing Rajni at his stylish best is definitely a treat to watch, and I am sure will keep the cash registers ringing. My humble verdict. All that hype has been justified by Sivaji. Rajni, Shankar and A.R.Rehman... Take a bow.
To add to that, there was a trailer of an animation movie by Rajni's daughter which could become the staple diet of Rajni's fans after Sivaji. It is an animated movie called Sultan. And Rajini stars in it as a Super-hero character called Sultan. The rushes look promising and the effects could give Final Fantasy a run for its money. That looks promising too. But for now. Its Sivaji all the way. Vartaa... Cool...
posted by Sudhakar at
5:08 PM
1 Comments:
I never expected such a big review. Anyway, the review was really great. Saw the movie after reading your review and found this review wasnt enough coz i was surprised to see a 62 old man acting in such a way. Awesome...
By
Antony Vincent Pandian.S., at 7:37 AM
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