It’s that season in Kollywood where the almighty ‘thalaivar’ appears on screen, stoking the frenzy flames from his ever growing fan base with his infectious style, larger than life image and unparalleled charisma that can only be matched with the yesteryear Kollywood doyen, late M.G.R. This time around Rajni appears on screen in an animated avatar (no pun intended) along with so many others who have been not so well animated as ‘thalaivar’ was.
The basic plot element is a ‘classic revenge story’ where a son seeks revenge for his father’s unfair trial - of course both the role of father and that of the son has been played by Rajni. K.S. Ravikumar has sewn a good storyline that augurs with the mythological milieu where the story takes place. Coming up with names like ‘Kottaipattinam’ and ‘Kalingapuri’ for the places in which the story takes place was by itself a sort of mise en scene which implants a sense of ambiance in the audience’s psyche.
Ravikumar’s forte as an ace screenplay writer has been leveraged thoroughly as the script had a logical plot and subplots which was apt for an animated movie. The dialogs were also powerful enough to usher in the mass hysteria among the fans. However Soundarya’s direction and her much talked about ‘Motion Capture Technology’ which is also the USP of the film is something that everyone yearned for as it is the first to employ such a technique in Indian cinescape. It was quite disappointing to say the least, especially given the fact that the Kollywood audience have been well exposed to dubbed Hollywood animation movies in recent times. So even if they don't intend to compare the two worlds which are worlds apart in terms of animation techniques, standards and execution, there definitely exists a void in their minds and that is very much evident in Rajni’s introduction scene.
The build up for Rajini’s arrival was well done, he literally flies with his chariot from one mound to another and then when his face is about to be revealed, whistles fly from various corners of the theaters and as soon as the crowd witnesses his face, the whistle sounds almost subvert, as if witnessing an anti-climax - because their perception of Rajini and his charisma has drastically taken a beating thanks to a lifeless eyeline that hardly moves, stiff eyebrows and a face that only betters a mannequin. The eyes and the eyebrows are quintessential in conveying the expressions of a person and if there are hardly any movements, then there ought to be a collateral damage as far as performances are concerned. The same is true with almost all the characters including that of Deepika Padukone, Aathi, Nasser, Sarathkumar, Jackie Shroff and Rukmini. A brilliant piece of thought in this quagmire was a brave attempt to animate Nagesh and bring him back to life - a great example of wishful thinking. Also all the other characters other than Rajini looked almost similar and sometimes it was hard to distinguish between them.
Even though the length of the movie is just under 2 hours, there were almost 5 songs (big and small) which were harping on the formulaic Kollywood predicaments with average music from the wizard, ARR. The action sequences were quite laudable but there was nothing outstanding and the 3D version was a big let down as there were hardly any compelling special effects for it.
Definitely there are more than a handful of reasons to watch this movie apart from it being the ‘thalaivar’ film. But my reservations with Kollywood’s ability to match Hollywood in the animation and special effects department sadly lingers - there is miles to go before we leap!!
Verdict: Worth a Watch (for the attempt)!
Rating: For the Plot: 2.5 / 5; For the Animation & Special Effects: 1/5
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