Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Hi, I'm Chitti the Robot. Speed 1 terahertz, memory 1 zigabyte.

The most expensive movie made in India till date has finally released and has already broken all box office records. Enthiran! This is the same movie that was originally supposed to start in 1998 with Kamal Hassan playing the lead role, then with vikram in the early 2000 and went on to cast Shah Rukh Khan a couple of years back and finally released with Rajnikanth playing the lead role. I managed to watch the movie a week into its release and like a farewell note sent by an IT/ITES employee, I have mixed feeling.

I heard similar reactions from some of my hard core SSRK fan friends (If you are wondering what SSRK stands for, its Super Star Rajini Kanth). Why will a most awaited and much hyped Rajni Kanth movie not go down well with some of the hardcore fans? Here's why.

- The movie's name is not the same as the lead character's name.
- The movie doesn't start with people praising the lead character before  
   they show him on screen.
- They did not introduce Rajni Kanth's character in slow motion.
- Rajini Kanth does not kiss a snake, break a pumpkin with his head,
   break a coconut or break someone's bone in his first scene.
- Rajinikanth's introduction scene is not followed by an introduction song
   which has some old proverbs as lyrics.
- S.P. Balasubramaniyam did not sing the intro song for Rajini Kanth.
   Mano has not sung any duet or philosophical sond, neither did malyasia vasudevan sing a revenge song.
- Rajini Kanth does not perform stunts that defy all laws of physics, chemistry, botany, zoology or applied
   mathematics. Instead he creates a robot that does these for him. Though the robot looks exactly like Rajini
   Kanth, since they've tried and linked those to logic it wasn't considered acceptable by some fans.
- Nobody calls Rajini Kanth an orphan or a begger 40 minutes into the movie and there was no sad song to
   follow such a sequence.
- Rajni Kanth does not become rich in one song after such a tragedy. (mostly a revenge song)
- Rajini Kanth does not feel shy to talk to the female lead character.
- There aren't 30 men walking behind Rajini Kanth through the movie regardless of where he goes.
- They don't show Rajni Kanth helping people get out of their miseries by throwing money after he became
   rich in a song.

These are most of the things they've been showing in Rajini Kanth movies for the past two decades and there are some fans who are still expecting the same old stuff? Come on. Kudos to Rajini Kanth for getting out of his usual routine and working on a movie like this.


The animatronics work done in this movie stunningly outstanding but everything else is a complete let down. The last 30 minutes of the movie is a complete visual treat and if you are a Rajini Kanth fan then you'll definitely freakout. This is the part where the director has been at his creative best. If there is onething that the movie lacked, its a strong storyline. The storyline is illogical (which is a standard in most indian movies) and outright dumb. This is when you feel the absence of the genius, Writer Sujatha. If not for his sad demise the movie would have definitely re-defined Indian cinema. In short Enthiran is a sci-fi movie made for plople with an IQ of less than 10!

Here are a few dumb parts from the movie.

- Rajini Kanth invents a robot that can be considered the next best invention by mankind after the fire and the wheel. Some scientific comittee that approves all inventions rejects the robot because the robot does not have emotions and can be very harmful to mankind if it continues to operate with just commands from human beings. Rajini Kanth has to now give his robot emotions so he makes the robot sit infront of a white board, writes down different types of emotions and teaches the robot?!?!?! Dude haven't you heard of programming?

- After he teaches emotions to the robot, the robot falls in love with Rajini Kanth's girl friend. This makes Rajini Kanth very angry so he takes an axe and starts chopping its parts while the robot is still pleading not to kill it and that it wants to live!?!?!?!? Dude...... Haven't you heard of reinstalling operating system?

- After Rajini Kanth chops his robot into pieces and dumps it into the garbage, the villan picks it up, re-assembles and adds an extra chip called the 'red chip' because it had a red LED light glowing inside. The red chip makes the robot evil. The robot then starts doing things that its not supposed to and this time its the villan's turn to stop it. Does he re-install the operating system? No he holds a knife to Aishwarya Rai's throat and threatens to kill her if the robot didn't stop doing whatever it was! Wow! Brilliant!
                                     
- In an effort to make the robot understand the human race better, Rajini Kanth lets the robot mingle with people. This is supposed to help the robot prepare itself to fulfill its purpose. The robot is made to apply mehndhi, cook food, clean the room, fight with neighbours who refuse to reduce the volume of their stereo and so on. After a series of such durability tests, Rajini Kanth takes his robot to the Indian Army for a demo! Really!?!?!?

The director of the movie Shankar said in one of his interviews that they've invested so much of money and time and everyone in the cast and crew have put in their heart and soul into this project. So the last thing they wanted is to copy stunt sequences from some hollywood movie. He said that every frame in the movie is so original and will take your breath away! Well dude if you've been thinking that you were the only Indian who's watched 'I, Robot,' there is no greater ass than you.

There is a lot of good work done on the technical side. The cinematography is brilliant. The art direction makes you raise your eyebrows. And like i said before the animatronics work takes the viewer experience to an all new level.

Enthiran is a brilliant movie on the technical aspects and a complete disappointment when it comes to the script.