I finally watched Endhiran (Yay!!!) and that too, for just 60 bucks (Double Yay!!!) :D . And I liked it. I was actually quite surprised at that because, as a rule, I don’t like the recent Rajini films. They are mostly just commercial with heroines just for duets and to act as the damsel in distress in the end. So, what’s different about this film? Find out by reading this review ;)
Movie: Endhiran
Genre: Science fiction
Actors: Rajinikant as the Scientist Vaseegaran, Rajinikant as the Robot-Chitti, Rajinikanth as a thousand other robots, Aishwarya rai bachchan (is the spelling even right?)
Storyline: A scientist creates a robot with the intention of donating it to the military so as to spare human lives but things go grossly wrong as the robot learns about human feelings.
Bottomline: Watch the film for the sheer magnificence of it.
Well, finally I was at the theatre with my four friends waiting eagerly for the film to begin. After having watched the trailers, I was eager for the film to start. I should add an advice note to Sun Pictures here though: Please… DO NOT run the trailers quite so often!!! Frankly, they become very irritating after a few days to the point of setting the particular song as the alarm in the morning. ;) Let me continue. The movie finally began. Scientist Vaseegaran (Rajini) creates a robot Chitti (Rajini again) that resembles human beings in every way. Vasi exhibits the various skills of the robot in the international conference. Personally, I liked the part when someone asks if god (the creator) is there. Chitti answers by saying that Vasi was the one who created him and hence, god is indeed present. Sana (Aishwarya) is Vasi’s girlfriend and befriends Chitti. Chitti fails to get a patent as, the villain proves, it obeys anybody’s command and does not have the sixth sense to realize who are the good guys and who are not. Also, when Chitti saves a girl from a fire accident, she commits suicide as the reporters take pictures of her without any clothes on as there wasn’t any time to look for clothes in the raging fire. (Obviously!) I found this particular scene ridiculous. Wouldn’t you be glad that you were alive instead of worrying about some stupid pictures? Anyways, this leads to the scientist teaching the robot about human feelings. As a result, Chitti falls in love with Sana (how totally unexpected :P) and forgets the whole purpose of his creation. In anger, Vasi dismantles Chitti and throws him away. The villain gets hold of Chitti then and programmes destruction in his neural chip. The rest of the film is about how too much dependence on machines is harmful to mankind.
First, let us look at the positive aspects of the film. The songs were all really good, even though it did take some time for me to like them. The location of “Kadhal anukkal” was heavenly and the choreography of “Irumbilae” was very apt. Aishwarya, as usual, looked stunning and proved that she is an extremely talented dancer in that song. Chitti was absolutely awesome. When he gets angry for the first time, Rajini looked so cute. :D Also, it was so refreshing to see Rajini as the villain after such a long time. He was actually menacing as the villain. The stunts were déjà vu, but now Shankar has an excuse for all the inhuman stunts that Rajini is able to perform. ;) The special effects were very new to Tamil cinema and it is important that we welcome such efforts. I guess that about sums up the pros.
Vasi’s beard, sunglasses, scarf etc looked as though they were present purposely to hide the numerous signs of aging on Rajini’s face. But, sadly, they fail to fulfill the purpose as Rajini looks older than ever. Chitti’s make-up was intact though. There was absolutely zero chemistry between Rajini and Aishwarya. The song “Kadhal anukkal” failed to impress me. The director has to understand that just the location won’t suffice to bring about the feel of a duet. It looked like Rajini and Ash were dancing in separate video tracks. I couldn’t find any interaction between the two. The song “Kilimanjaro” was frankly, quite irritating. It was unnecessary and got on my nerves. As the film neared its end, the violence was a bit too much and the power ranger-like special effects were overdone. Sana, who is the core reason for all the havoc looks least bothered by the destruction happening all around her. There is not a hair out of place in spite of all the blood and revenge surrounding her.
Despite all the negative aspects, the film worked for me. It was one of a kind… and hey, after all, at the end of the day, one has to accept the fact that Rajinikant is, in fact, the Wonly won!!! :D
