Sivaji Experiences!!

Yes !!!!

I watched Sivaji.

Yes!!!

It was in Tamil.

Yes!!!

It had no subtitles.

Did I enjoy it ?

Well read on.

Now Albert Einstein once very rightly said

"Two things in the world are infinite- The Universe and Human Stupidity, and I am not sure about the Former."

I mean how dare I prove this great man wrong!!

One thing that these software companies are very good at doing is recruiting unsuspecting poor engineering kids and put them through a 2 month ill organised and executed training .As i was battling this very phenomenon, some very good Illad friends of mine ( No sarcasm intended) thought of getting away and bunking.Being the sport that I always am and given my awesome records at Mech Dept @ NIT Surat, I jumped at the idea. They planned to watch Sivaji.It got me thinking.The day I landed in Chennai, I have been seeing the Sivaji mania all around me.Every news channel worth its salt has been going Gung ho about this celebrated man, people paying a thousand bucks for just a show, Sivaji caller tunes, life size posters all around chennai, processions to celebrate the release,Images of people dancing on the streets as well as in the theatre,people coming from China and japan just to watch the first show of the movie, US cinemas running to full houses and people going really really Crazy.
I realised that I need to watch this movie just to see what is the whole mania all about, and not wanting to be the cat ( no not the CAT, you pathetic IIM chasing morons...ahem ahem which includes me too) who dies out of curiosity, i decided to jump into the bandwagon.So our ever resourceful Karthic sir booked the tickets online and my rendezvous with the superstar of the masses was set.

The setting: Abirami Theatre,Purashaiwakkam

The Guys: Ansar(My partner in all my foodie indulgences), Shankar(who always takes notes in class), Venkat(SVNITian, that's an introduction in itself :P) and Karthic sir(The know all do all guy)


The prodigious willing Bakra: Yours Truly

The time:3 30pm show (forgot the date actually)

Due to a horrendous mix up we missed the initial 10 minutes of the movie.Before I start with the movie, I had messaged some friends that I was going for it,here are some of the replies I got, reproducing them as they were

A friend currently posted in Hyderabad said

saale koi kaam dhanda nahi hai kya?

Another SVNITian and victim of the same training process said

Great...Just let me know what you understood in the movie.Great guts i must say :)

A eternally pissed off female JAVA resource at Accenture Chennai, who was left out of the party

I dont care utsav...I DON'T

My younger cousin

U are a deserving Candidate for the Red and White bravery Awards!
U better develop a taste for such films pata nahi kab tak dekhni pade

A very good coll senior and close friend

Gud job bro! I am proud of you

Another SVNITian

I am not at all surprised da.typically you. Audience must have been surprised to see a Phorener among them

Our G8 stud said

Abey u gne completely mad.shit yaar.
Horrendous act.U in some shock.Oh god

A very good SVNItian said

lolz hee hee
I am proud of you .u've done the unthinkable.U re a full blown Anna now
Simbly start lookin for yann moti aunty.

Other than "oh what is this firangi doing here" to " some over enthusiastic movie buff/research student" to "what the fuck!!!!" looks by the junta around,my transition to the theatre was ok.

Finally the Movie

The movie stars Rajni as a NRI who returns to his home state to set up schools, universities and industries etc to help his home state develop.But he faces lots of opposition from a local Don who also runs colleges n other such stuff. So he first tries to do things the right way, and does not get anywhere, so he eventually pays up.But the baddie ensures that his project derails and rajni aka sivaji goes bankrupt. He decides to fight back the baddie and the corrupt system of the country and eventually wins.

Ok this may sound as a very boring and done to death script, had it not been for the following

1. Rajni also comes looking for a bride who is traditional and very much rooted to Indian values.He finds her in a temple and then goes on to woo her.The extent he goes to woo her is simply pathetic.He tries to show of his poweress and has some action sequences thrown in. The movie unfortunately reinforces a huge stereotype about Indian's obsession for fair skin.He eventually gets her

2. How this traditional homely coy girl suddenly turns into a sizzling hot cleavage showing babe in every song and back is beyond me, even keeping the standards of our Industries imagination in mind. Moreover the girl is shown pretty naive to believe anything and everything.

3.The heroes sidekick is Vivek, who is simply a superb actor and has awesome comic timing.His talents lay underutilised.If you can make a non Tamil knowing guy laugh, i consider him a good comedian

4.Technically, the movie is pretty superior. The stunts look very real and well executed.Also the songs are picturised pretty well.Cinematography rocks too.

5.Finally the Rajni touch. The man himself.He adds charm to the movie.He sports 7 hairstyles(maybe more, lost count after a while), wears some outrageous clothes, does unimaginable stunts, imagining them is an achievement in itself, self confessed Bachelor of Social Service(BOSS), his typical way of eating chewing gum, flipping coins, saying COOL n number of times, displaying agility which could put any Kung Fu master to shame and make god himself wonder whether Rajni is his creation and innumerable things i may have missed.I was laughing my ass off during all these scenes and people seemed in awe and were transfixed.Well as HSBC guys say, Different people, Different perspectives.

The reason of this short review is that there is nothing much in the movie to talk about.Its a typical masala movie.
But why does the movie work

Because the masses love it.They see him battling the problems they face daily and succeeds.Too simplistic an explanation?? I cant sem to figure anything else out.And as a friend says" You have to be brought up on this kind of cinema to appreciate it."Well with all due respect, this is my last rajni movie.

It was an experience that is going to stay with me for long.Hehe for different reasons altogether though!!