Thursday night preview show. Not because I wanted to figure out the big deal about this movie, but because am a hardcore Rajini fan. Local theatre. No fan. No AC. And people smoking their way to glory. Nothing mattered. Because it's a Rajini movie. Very religiously got hold of bunch of flowers to shower upon my hero. Well, that's me - a diehard fan. I write this as a Rajini fan and not as any critic. This is no analysis of the movie, but just a jotting of the volley of emotions that I was going through as the movie progressed from beginning till end.
A powerful introduction, a foot tapping intro number that builds to a crescendo before the superstar enters, comedy splattered all across the movie, his trademark style every now and then and punch dialogues – My only expectations out of the movie. Only this time it was accompanied by the belief that they would be met by the dream team ofShankar.
I have nothing to talk about the introduction scene. I had to stand up to watch what was going on, and had to strain my ears to listen to what he had to say. And I miserably failed. People dancing and screaming made it virtually impossible. But what followed, andremained for the rest of the movie was a total surprise for me – Silence. Not sure if it was because Rajini had the audiences attention or he failed to make a notable first impression. To me it seemed more like the latter.
While the songs have been very stylishly packaged, and I have pretty much only WOW comments on them, Ballelakka needs a special mention. Shankar, the most celebrated director seemed to have lacked the finesse to write a screenplay that had a situation leading to an intro song with the superstar dancing in real life. It has been 5 days sincethe movie, and I still cannot think of another intro song of superstar that was a dream sequence. The song seemed out of place and unwarranted This is when my disappointment began to creep in.
While the Vivek and Rajini duo did manage to make me laugh my wits out, I remember telling my brother how irritating and childish some of the sequences were. I am ok with my hero romancing a 20 year old, but then some amount of maturity in the role could have made the romance and the intended comedy click “throughout”. Solomon papaiya seemed to have been brought in just for Raja to take revenge for all the pattimandra insults. Otherwise, he only contributed to more decibel levels. The Rajini – Shreya family sequences (pazhagura scenes)were irritating, immature, and could have been avoided barring few exceptions.
INTERVAL.
And I was sitting there wondering what went wrong. Did Shankar forget the basics ? Did Sujata not understand the masses ?
Just when I was about to give up on Sivaji, came the Rajini challenge to change the scenario. Post interval had a different story to tell. Excitement mounted with every single scene starting from the Tea shop drama. And by the time motta boss made an entry, he had managed to resurrect all the faded spirits. Yeah. He did manage to change thescenario. Second half had me on the edge of my seat on most occasions. Adhiradi ( would have been an apt intro for Rajini), the hero – villain verbal clashes, Vivek comical interruptions, larger than life heroism of superstar, Rajini gimmicks (Chewing gum, coin flip, kewl, pera ketaale adhiruthula, the tap on the motta thala) the fight sequences, and the motta boss were just enough to keep the second half ticking.
On the whole it was more like a roller coaster ride. At one point it made me feel like puking, at many points it made me scream and I enjoyed most part of it. End of the ride, no one remembers how they felt at each point. But they know for a fact if they enjoyed the ride or not. I loved it just for the one-man phenomenon. I can screw everything else just for the matchless marvel. I can pardon all the shortcomings of the movie for the incomparable Superstar.
To sum it up, Rajini singlehandedly carries the movie on his shoulders with support from very well picturized songs and some good comedy. WATCH IT JUST FOR HIM. Am watching it again this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday JUST FOR HIM.
