ENDHIRAN - MAGNUM OPUS

From almost sticking to a stereotype formula with his core plot, the social awareness director, Shankar has finally come up with a pure Sci-Fi genre with a tag 'Asia's costliest movie' and with the costliest cast. I am not a great fan of the director but most of his movies have provided enough entertainment be it any form. The director was quoted as someone equivalent to KB in yielding the required input for the movie from any potential cast. I was one among the people who had ROTFL for this statement given by Rajnikanth during Sivaji's silver jubilee celebration. But I was awestruck that the director has got that calibre though not to the extent of KB. If one has to do a quick brush up, almost all his movies carried the same core plot but told to us in much more interesting way so that one wouldn't feel it's a replica. So, does the costliest movie in Asia worth the money spent on it? You must have known Shankar on how he spends money lavishly on areas where it's absolutely not worth of, but Endhiran is an exception. The maker didn't invest his bet on unwanted irrelevant sets. Neither had he spent on disco camera for the stupid stunts nor for the roll over camera for songs. Every money spent of animatronics is worth each and every penny.

The name is Rajnikanth

Be it any Rajni movies, one would mostly talk about his screen presence, style, punch dialogues, action stunts but hardly one talks about his acting or the performance. It had been made by the man himself as he chosen the path to comfort his calibre. Forget about the path he choose, there will be a much or major impact because of his screen presence. There were movies which ran just because for the magic man. But hardly a very few directors uses the acting skills in him. In the 80s, we have seen the BAD ASS Rajni in Netrikan, Moondru Mugam, Moodru Mudichi, Avargal etc., Shankar has significantly used his potential and it's where Rajni just took over from the director for a period of 30 mins in the movie with his magnificent performance as a bad ass. Not many carry that villainous wicked look. Many villains require dialogue delivery or voice modulation or aggressive roughness to make them call a Villain. But, the opening scene of the version 2.0 is evident from the wicked look followed by his ultra laughter. It's not just the bad ass role where Rajni outshined. There has been enough hard work from the man. If you observe Chitti throughout the movie, you could make out the way he walks, the way he hugs, the way he talks, the way he moves his body signifies the amount of hard work the man has put. Why Endhiran is different from other Rajni movies? Can you think of any Rajni movies where there is no introduction song with a mass opening scene and sans punch dialogues? Well, watch Endhiran DOT

Shreya was superb. Nayantara was plump. Trisha was sexy. But for some reason, I just HATE Ash to the core. I used to text message during her screen presence in Raavan. But in Endhiran, she didn't even allow me to answer my phone. I am not ashamed to admit that she is indeed a HEART THROB. Good that unlike other heroines of Tamil cinema, she managed her presence to a significant part of the movie. Her lip sync was near perfect and an apt voice selection to dub for her. Though there isn't anything to talk about the chemistry, the pair looked individually great as the movie doesn't demand intimate relationship except for the songs.

Danny as Dr Borra was strictly OK to his role. But the director should have at least helped to work with his lip sync. Except for the dialogues in English, he was having a very tough time with his lip sync. But most of the scenes where kept as a long shot to hide it. There aren’t any special characters to talk about the other cast in the movie. The whole movie was run by Rajni-Ash-Rajni with some mind blowing visuals from the maker.

Creativity Emperor Shankar

I will never call him a great director. Neither I call James Cameron or Andy Wachowski a great director. But these directors are known for their creativity. Of course, it's too early to map Shankar on par with these legends or the benchmark directors. But at least in India, Shankar earns that respect for directing a movie like Endhiran. The story is perfect. Screenplay waves from good to better to worse to best as the movie progresses. Dialogues are simple and smart. Especially the one liners delivered by Chitti is magic. Direction again waves in a similar sinusoidal pattern. But at the end of the day, his creativity stands tall diluting the areas of miss hit. The way he choreographed the stunt sequences in the climax is simply magnificent and top notch. There are enough scenes where there is Shankar's magic touch to speak about his creativity. The scene where Rajni portrays as Amman has a beautiful correlation to the start of the scene where speakers chant Amman song. The way how the Robots manipulates and unites to form different pattern makes one spellbound. The usage of Animatronics is excellent in almost all the scenes and the graphics is something a bonanza for the audience. We had seen a decent CG work in his recent movies and we have seen hardcore desi CG works in many Indian movies as well. The man's strongest power in film making, Visuals, has helped him in Endhiran brilliantly though there was an over dosage it was much appreciated.

What are the SIGHS in Endhiran?

The man behind the camera, Randy has easily the unluckiest guy in the planet, who has wasted the opportunity given to him. After coming from a rich Sivaji (talking with respect to the cinematography) Endhiran is a damp squib. The visuals of the songs were strictly OK with a mind-blowing location carrying more value. The man should try to learn what to show and how to show! Good that he has shown Ash as a beauty prince!

Another master to contribute to the sigh is our renowned Editor Anthony. When every other crew wants Tamil cinema to be taken to the next level, our editor wants to go back a step. There is a pause many places and people are enlightened that there will be a song in another 3 seconds with an abrupt cut. The switch over doesn't really happen in a smooth manner between scenes and this makes the quality diminished.

The long run of the movie is yet another factor to sigh. When you have plenty of visuals towards the end, why not place the song appropriately or leave a few unwanted songs and release it as a separate album? The first 30 minutes where kept for the sake not to miss two songs! When Shankar can understand the strength of Rajni and kept the bad ass character, he could have captivated to run long by shortening other sequences.

Jarring BGM is another pain in the ass. Credit for making an effective audio should goto the sound engineers for making the Robot voice clear with robotic sound. I am strictly against the version 1.0, 2.0 BGM track. Thanks to the Arima song which has moulded quite efficiently for the climax background score. But suprisingly the songs which I thought would be pathetic have come out good. I never expected Boom Boom Robot da to be choreographed well but it ended with a good note. We lost the opening song as it was segmented as the movie required. Irumbile was just OK whereas Arima Arima had massive visuals. Kilimanjaro was saved because of its location.

Verdict - Step inside a theatre to experience a roller coaster ride DOT