We had got the tickets for the morning show and were really excited and upbeat about the film. When Thalaivar’s name came up on screen we just went berserk with the crowd, it was awesome, although Rajni’s intro was devoid of any intro song or trademark mannerisms, which was quite a change from what many of us were used to. The first half of the film was really too good and we were just waiting in anticipation on how the second half would pan out. The second half started out well, but nearly 20 – 25 minutes of the graphics took away some of the charm, I would say. Although the graphics and animatronics were simply superb and out of the world, just seeing so many Rajni’s on screen continuously at the same time and the stunts being quite repetative in the form of ‘formations’ were quite tedious! The climax scene where the good Chitti Robot dismantles itself and the dialogues were simply superb. The film can be watched once for the experience.
This is a Shankar film in which Rajni acts and is completely different from all previous Rajni films. Shankar has treated this film really well, mixing commercial elements with the main plot of the film and also giving Rajni ample scope to perform 3 different characters, Vaseegaran, the good Chitti and the bad chitti and Rajni literally carries the entire film on his shoulders and I feel no one else could have pulled off this film with such panache.
I salute Shankar, firstly because he has persisted with his dream for 10 years on making this film and even inspite of so many hurdles in his path, with actors pulling out and budget constraints, he has pulled this off. Secondly, he has done what other Directors can only dream off by making this film, which pushes the boundaries of Indian Cinema and also showcased how Indians can make truly world class films. I really feel the character “Vaseegaran” is based on himself and on how he struggled for making this film. Although many films would be made with extensive budgets in future and with more technical finesse, Shankar will always remain the beacon who had shown the path when it was pitch dark and he would be the first person who made everyone believe that this can be done. Also, without Sun Pictures and without Mr. Kalanidhi Maran’s belief in Shankar this film would have been just a dream, so I would also like to thank Kalanithi Maran also for making this film.
