Endhiran – movie review

‘Memorable’ and ‘Special’ are two different things. It is hard to classify Shankar’s latest movie. Good news is, it does fall into one of these two categories. After a hell lot of publicity and hype, the movie finally has come out. But I need to tell you, it is not too good to be true! The story, if not it’s main twists and turns have been puked out a thousand times already, and its only been three bloody days! I, however will not be doing just that!

Endhiran is a real good movie, and has to be lauded for keeping a major part of the story and screenplay original. The director has deliberately slowed down his usual in-your-face brand fast cinema to give this movie the depth and understanding that is required. This smart guy knows that his movies aren’t for the americans and europeans. The simple style of direction says it all. At the same time, the movie towards the end speaks volumes of his ambition and dream.

The story talks about a love traingle that goes slightly berseck at the beginning and horribly berseck towards the end. Rajni sizzles and sets the screen on fire, re-discovering his long-lost love for portraying special roles. You know your watching the superstar when you hear no punch lines/ mass dialogues but still drop your jaw at his style! Aishwarya Rai looks gorgeous and steals the show in every frame she appears. The songs seemed to be tailor-made for her. Don’t beleive me? Watch her Rihanna-Fergie-Shakira styled costumes in the ‘irumbile’ song. Santhanam and Karunas have been wasted and in my opinion, were not required for this movie at all. Veteran Danny Denzongppa is immensely engaging and quite menacing. A perfect match for Rajni’s charisma.

Technically the movie was at its total brilliance. The Rahman-Cyril-Ratnavelu-Sujatha combo was flawless! Though some sequences could have been editted to make this movie a racy-feast. The designs of the Robots and their Desi adaptation was brilliant. Music really enhanced the feel of this movie and I can only wish rahman continues giving nice notes like these in future too. The movie would have been even better without the duet songs and just Rahman’s BGM. I guess that is a compromise that Indian directors must make 🙂

The magic screen presence of the superstar, the unusual scenes of a typical Shankar movie, the scintillatingly well done songs, reasonably spectacular CG effects, a climactic punch. I guess that is good enough for a minimum one-time watch. The movie starts off as fun, keeps you in tow and ends on an unexpected note, with a heart-warming message. In my opinion that is how good entertainment should be.

4/5 – must watch!