Hey folks,
It's been more than a couple of months since I caught a movie on the big screen. After Raavanan, it's mostly been HBO and the likes.
Today, finally, I caught up with Enthiran at Escape Cinemas inside Express Avenue. The usual ghumbhal was there with me!
So, without further ado, let's get to my take on the movie.
The movie starts off with no flashy intro scene for Rajnikanth. This is probably an indication of what is to prevail for the next 2-odd-hours. As most of you might have already seen/heard, this is no regular Rajni movie. Unlike Sivaji, Enthiran is a Shankar film in which Rajnikanth incidentally plays the lead character!
The story is simple (Creation turns against Creator) and the screenplay has come out fairly well in the second half of the movie. The first half is highly passable. Aishwarya Rai is pure eye candy. Though she plays a pivotal character, she has very little scope to prove whatever little acting prowess she has!
Santhanam and Karunas bring some isolated laughter here and there. But largely, they're useless as comedians. There is very little comedy in the whole storyline. Comparing with other Shankar films, the amount of comedy is simply negligible!
Rajnikanth is highly passable as Vasikaran, the roboticist. However, he scores all his marks as Chitti, the robot. Rajni has certainly done his homework for the character. He has to be given credit for stepping outside his 'masala' bubble and for attempting a character like this. He has tried his level best to portray a talented roboticist who's dejected at his creation turning evil. But something somewhere prevents me from accepting the quintessential Rajnikanth as a critically-acclaimed scientist.
A R Rahman's music has lent a firm hand to the movie and provides for a richer movie-watching experience. I'm unfortunately not capable enough to differentiate and appreciate the presence of Resul Pookutty in the technical team. Randy's camerawork is worth a prominent mention. He's managed to capture multiple types of locales vividly. From what little I know about lighting and colour tones, I tend to think he's done a good job.
The graphics for scenes appearing in the first half seem to have been outsourced to a local company. They're largely amateurish. A lot of spelling mistakes are present in the 'software' that appear in the movie too! Maybe it was intentional to lay more emphasis and put more money on the second half. Maybe that was how commercial viability could be maximized. But there certainly prevails a heavy imbalance. The graphics in the second half (especially the scenes leading to the climax) are amazing, as per Indian standards. Commendable work has gone into these scenes and it clearly shows on the screen.
The movie does not appear to have been lifted off any Hollywood flick. I assume that is a highly respectable achievement going by today's standards of mainstream Indian film-making! Maybe a couple of scenes here and there seem to have been inspired by Hollywood but they don't look obvious.
By and large, this could be India's best effort at Sci-Fi action! It easily surpasses any previous attempt made by any Indian film-maker on the mainstream arena. Kudos to Shankar and Kalanithi Maran for making a brave attempt. Just like how people remember Dasavathaaram for Kamal's 10 roles, people would certainly remember Enthiran for the budget and the grandeur. Intellectually, I think the movie will eventually fade out of people's minds, just like any other movie.
Yours Skeptically,
uleadin
