Sivaji - Rajini all the way

Finally, after a year long wait, the movie is out and it is definitely worth the wait. Sivaji is a product of an intelligent director, Shankar, who has created the movie for Rajinikanth the actor. Both enjoy a larger than life image and Sivaji is much much larger than you can possibly think. To say the movie is fantastic is only a understatement. Pure Entertainment!

This time Shankar digs at the black money that has been plaguing the society. That is the message for you, if you want it to be. But, hey who wants a message in a Rajini's flick. And Shankar too has understood it and had only underplayed the message part differing from his previous films. Right from the beginning to the end, its just one man show - RAJINI.

Looking half his age, he still has his inimitable style and screen presence that can be matched by none. Style, Romance, Comedy, Action, Emotion and Revenge - Rajini takes you through all of this like he has done it before but on a larger scale. The first half is a laugh riot. To the best of my knowledge, this is the most funniest movie of him, better than Thillu Mullu or Netri Kan. To help him here he has Vivek throughout, along with Raja and Solomon Papaiya in the first half.

Numerous hair styles, even more than that Shriya's gives you a sweet surprise. He appears in the best of costumes which has not happened in the past. Instead of a cigarette, this time it is a chewing gum and a one-rupee coin. The coin gimmick has been done via graphics but the gum-popping scene at least looks real. And the climax mottai get-up along with a little tap that he does on his head is "the best" and will be left unchallenged for a long time to come.

Shriya is beautiful. She has done her part perfectly. She dances very well and is extremely glamorous in the songs. She even has more time on the screen than other Rajini's heroines in the past. Vivek, the perfect side-kick for the boss, handles his role with ease. He keeps you tickled throughout and appears with Rajini throughout the film. Suman as Adi Seshan, is the bad guy and he plays his role very smoothly without the clichèd shouting and Tata Sumos that we have associated with villains in Tamil Movies. Apart from this, there is Manivannan, Vadivukarasi (trivial roles for both), VMC Haneefa, MS Baskar, Raghuvaran playing supporting roles.

When you hear about CPR, Money Laundering, Voice Recognition Software in the movie, you immediately identify Sujatha as the man with the pen. Not just the serious ones, even the lighter ones are good along with a couple of double meaning dialogues. AR Rahman, the maestro, has done a wonderful job with the songs and the rerecording. The background score for the stunt scene in the music shop was excellent. Talking about stunts, Peter Hein has done his best in the music shop fight. The second one in the garage was very ordinary, while the car chase and the climax was beautifully choreographed.

Thotta Tharani and KV Anand tell you through their sets and camera why they have won National Award for their previous works. The sets for the vaji vaji and sahana song - Egyptian palace, glass house - are amazing. The camera is so fluid with stunning visuals and amazing picture quality. I am not aware of the technical stuff behind it, but the picture quality is the best. Different songs have been choreographed by different people. All the songs have stunning
visuals typical of Shankar. But my personal favourite is athiradi and oru koodai sunlight. The concept for athiradi is new and very funny.

Shankar, the man behind all this deserves all the appreciation that are on its way to him. The man thinks big and executes them big on the screen. He has just showed what one can do with the Super Star. He has worked to Rajinis strength and that has done wonders for the movie. I have always thought that only KS Ravi Kumar has used Rajini so well in his movies. But, with Sivaji, Shankar shows much more. I am sure that there can be no other film/director who can show Rajini as was done in Sivaji.

On the flip side, only one negative remark I would like to make - the opening of the movie. A Big let down. For the first ten minutes I was in utter shock looking at the movie and had already started scolding Shankar. The build-up was missing and you don't introduce the superstar like this. The lack of build-up affects the balelaka song and the song does not create the kind of sensation that vantheda palkaaran or naan autokaran created. Other than this, the movie is an excellent example for a perfect entertainer.

If Chandramukhi, which had no steam in it, could run for 800 days, I guess then Sivaji has a long way to go. Its time for AVM to start filling their coffers after having emptied them for the past one year. Bravo!