Lingaa

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Heather Wilson

Finally it’s here! Friday was not only the Superstar’s birthday but marked the release of his latest film with director K.S. Ravikumar. There has been plenty of hype and expectation for this film, so did the team who gave us the hits Padayappa and Muthu deliver another blockbuster? Well….. mostly. This is a Rajinikanth film so we all know what to expect, and it goes without saying that the outfits will be stupendous, the songs lavish and attention firmly focused on the star in every scene.There is nothing much new about the story, but that’s not really the point, since it’s the entire spectacle and the heroism that’s important and there is plenty of that to be getting on with. Lingaa delivers most of the Rajni ‘formula’ characteristics we’ve come to expect, and with good performances from Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha there is plenty to enjoy in full masala style.

The film starts with the exploits of Lingaa (Rajinikanth), a thief and con-artist who, along with his merry band of Santhanam and Karunakaran, attempts a major heist at a jewelry exhibition. His outfits are classy and his concept equally sophisticated but Lingaa is foiled in his attempt to sell the jewels on by journalist Lakshmi (Anushka Shetty). Lakshmi is in search of the grandson of Raja Lingeswaran, the only one who can re-open a temple in her village and who just happens to be our jewel thief Lingaa. Using tricks and flattery, Laksmi manages to get Lingaa to go to the village but not before she indulges in a full blown fantasy song with Rajnikanth as the pirate king come to recue her and her backing dancers, who perpetrate crimes on the high seas against the ruffle shirt amongst other fashion crimes.

Once in the village, Lingaa is taken aback by the respect shown to his grandfather, but since he himself feels no obligation to the man who lost all the family money, he is content to use the situation purely for gain. However in the course of events, Lingaa learns the full story of Raja Lingeswaran and exactly how he lost his money but won the respect of the people for his life-saving dam. We see all this in flashback mode with Rajinikanth also playing the role of his grandfather, in a beautifully drawn flashback to the 1930’s with period furniture and apparently CGI elephants. No mention though if all the horses, mules and buffalos were CGI too. Back in the thirties Rajni’s love interest this time is village girl Bharathi (Sonakshi Sinha) who has just as epic an imagination as Lakshmi, although she favours a more regal theme in her fantasy.

The thirties track starts with a superb fight scene on a train that features Dev Gill as a freedom fighter and touches on the Independence movement, the corruption and cruelty of the British Collectors, and the blind neglect of the Governors, the inequities of the caste system and the struggles of rural India as the farmers battle drought and flood. It’s a bit of a mish mash of ideas, but through it all Rajnikanth walks tall in some wonderfully spiffy costumes and what must surely be the best collection of sunglasses onscreen ever.

The film looks amazing with obviously no effort spared on the sets and outstanding costuming for Rajinikanth. There aren’t all that many fight scenes, but they are all well choreographed and fit into the main narrative. The train fight scene is undoubtably the best with Rajni stylishly eliminating a train full of bandits with effortless ease, including a one on one with Rahul Dev on top of the train. The action scenes set in and around the building of the dam are also well filmed and the effects well integrated to give the impression of a truly massive construction. The songs by A.R. Rahman are a little less successful, but since the dance numbers are mainly dream sequences, the total switch from the story is a little less disruptive. The songs which move the story forward such as the stirring Indiane Vaa more successful and the background music, also by A.R Rahman, is suitably evocative for each era. I do like the songs and actually like them more after seeing the visual to match, even with those ridiculous costumes in Mona Gasoline!

Sonakshi Sinha and Anushka Shetty don’t have a huge amount to do other than as the romance interest for the two Lingeswaran’s, but K.S. Ravikumar does give both of them a few important scenes in their relevant story lines. Santhanam and Karunakaran are also kept mainly in the background and when Brahmi makes a brief appearance early in the film it’s over almost before you realise it’s Brahmi. Still this means the focus is firmly on Rajinikanth and he makes the best use of every moment on screen with one liners, epic speeches and that twinkling smile.

Perhaps the only problem I have with Lingaa is the relative ineffectiveness of the villains, although I did appreciate the very normality of their respected self-interest. In the present day Jagapathi Babu does the honours while in the flash-back the actor playing the British collector is suitably sneery but a little too much of a caricature for me to completely believe in the character. The finale also seems a little rushed, especially since the computer graphics don’t work quite so well here as in the rest of the film. However it’s still Rajni doing several impossible things at once while saving the day and the girl (yet again) so for me it’s fine to accept the glaring unfeasibility of it all and just enjoy the spectacle.

I really enjoyed Lingaa, and loved watching Rajinikanth in the two separate incarnations of Lingeswaran. The comedy and action in the first half is interspersed with the insanely OTT songs while the second half is more sedate in keeping with the thirties backdrop. I am a big Rajinikanth fan which undoubtably colours my opinion, but this was fun and entertaining. Definitely well worth watching for the Superstar and those wonderful sunglasses!

Just as an aside, Lingaa was showing at The Astor here in Melbourne and when I left the cinema I was confronted by a sea of Jake and Elwood Blues lookalikes who were there for the 7pm showing of The Blues Brothers. From one iconic sunglass wearing movie superstar to an iconic movie – it made my day!

Naayak

Posted on January 12, 2013 by masalaaddict

Naayak is an updated masala potboiler, action packed with colourful dance numbers and an improbable but entertaining enough story. The audience last night was mostly young couples and families. I did wonder yet again at the ability of children to sleep through anything. At the end of the film the dads left with a kid slung over one shoulder, dead to the world.

To summarise the story, with mild spoilers:

Naayak opens with four men being pursued through the streets and lanes of Kolkata, and eventually tied to a pillar in the forecourt of an ornate manor. Surrounded by approximately 4962 taxis with their headlights on, the men look doomed. But a mysterious figures glides through the darkness, and rescues them in a bloody fight involving lots of pointy objects and ornate axes. Who was he and why were they in trouble? That comes later. Charan is Charan AKA Cherry, a Hyderabadi IT dude. Through some Brahmi induced comedy complications, he meets the gangster Babji (Rahul Dev) and his pretty sister Madhu (Kajal). In the background, Cherry appears to be on a killing spree from Kolkata to Hyderabad. Babji sees Cherry shoot a senior police officer and starts asking questions about who Cherry really is. At the same time the police, led by Ashish Vidyarthi, are closing in. A trip to Haridwar and a chance encounter with a lookalike prompts a long flashback introducing Siddharth (Charan). Siddharth is on a mission of revenge following Pradeep Rawat’s criminal (and insane) treatment of workers in his chemical factory (and others). Siddharth has his own love interest in Amala Paul, and a tragic back story. To quote nearly every Telugu film reviewer ever, ‘how the hero triumphs over the villain forms the rest of the story’.

Charan has matured as an actor and his dialogue delivery has more authority. Perhaps that is because he seems really comfortable in the mass entertainer roles, and he certainly gets the style. Naayak is an updated version of the kind of films Chiranjeevi is known for. Action, dancing, flamboyant costumes, a dash of romance and a social message all add up to a good showcase for the young star. The fights are very stylised and rely on not always seamless wirework and effects. Sometimes the clunky visuals took away from the drama. Charan seems comfortable with the physicality of the fight scenes so he doesn’t let his characterisation lapse and that does help. There were few differences apparent between Cherry and Siddharth – Siddharth’s hair was a bit higher and his necklines a tad lower. But as the story turns on their similarity, that all worked nicely.

Charan’s dancing was such a highlight, especially in the very Chiru-ish Laaila O Laaila which I wanted to be replayed again right away, and Naayak which is just so pretty and colourful.

Kajal was very likeable. Madhu is more ‘girl next door in glamourous dress-ups’ than total glamour doll, and she often had a cheeky glint in her eye. The costume designers were reasonably kind to her, with only a brief foray into shiny metallic pants. She cannot dance to save her life, so the choreographers wisely decided to go for stunning locations plus giving Charan all the actual steps and telling Kajal to either shake her butt or heave her chest.

I tell a lie – in one song she had to point one hand skywards and walk, which must have been challenging.

But she looks like she has fun, and she and Charan goofed around flirting rather than worrying so much about the steps.

Amala Paul made little impression apart from looking very pretty. Her role is small but she does get a couple of visually spectacular songs. Unfortunately the costume designers never really considered the implications of dancing with your hair down and wearing a chiffon sari on undulating terrain in Iceland in a stiff breeze so she didn’t always looks graceful.

Particularly not as she wore brown Ugg boots with a green sari and black shoes with bright blue laces with her diaphanous black sari during one song. Kajal wore leggings under her short shorts but apart from being greyish and a bit baggy around the knees, they weren’t as peculiar. I’m all for actresses dressing appropriately for the climate, and for workplace safety, but it was odd.

Rahul Dev is Babji, and he plays a more sympathetic gangster than his usual psycho villain. Indeed, there is quite a sweet bromance developing between him and Cherry until things start to get crazy. Raghu Babu and Jayaprakash Reddy are on comedy duty in his gang and, judging by the audience reaction, knocked it out of the park. MS Narayana is a drunk lip reading expert and his timing and droll expressions are really quite amusing. (As was the misspelled ‘Drinking is injurious to your HEATLH’ warning.) Brahmi has an actual character to play. When he can be dissuaded from just repeating his usual shtick he is so much more bearable. I actually laughed out loud at a couple of his scenes when normally I would be sighing so either I’ve had a head injury or he was good. Dev Gill made an appearance as a psycho baddie with impressive (that’s not the right word but they are very in your face) moobs.

SS Thaman’s music is OK but sounds like every other film. You know, there’s the upbeat hero song, the item (featuring Charmme), the duet, the other duet, the remake of a better song. Nothing wrong with it, but I sit here now and I can picture the sets and the fancy costumes, but can’t recall the music as clearly. One thing I loved in Charmme’s item was Siddharth imaging joining in. His cheesy expressions and Chiru-esque mannerisms were really amusing. That was all his own character’s vision so I liked that glimpse of his inner life.

Despite this being an adventure without subtitles the only thing I feel I really missed was the comedy dialogue. People around me were weeping with laughter and a couple of guys said it is one of the funniest films they’d seen in ages. I’ll be buying the DVD regardless, and am interested to see how well that laugh riot translates. I liked spotting the Pawan Kalyan and Chiranjeevi references in the visuals and dialogues and was pleased to see Shah Rukh smirking from the back of a Significant Magazine.

See it if you like films with clearly defined heroes and villains, action, drama, colour and movement. You’ll need some tolerance for dismemberments, gore and a lot of comedy uncles but it pays off with an explosive climax.

Rachcha

Posted on April 6, 2012 by cinemachaat

Rey! 3am and we were still discussing Charan’s amazing hair, his dedication to bringing the cape back and the total masala fun of Rachcha. Another adventure without subtitles, we saw it with an appreciative audience notable for the number of women attending. Usually we hear a high pitched squeal of fandom and look around to see a dude in a suit. But Charan seems to bring the ladies out, and we can see why. There’s plenty of action, excellent choreography and at least for Charan, some superb costumes. Charan channels Chiru in his own inimitable style and with a nod to the camera that says he knows what we’re thinking, while Tamanna holds her own in both the dancing and drama stakes.

The film starts with the opening banner of Mega Supergood Films and, since any reference at all to the word ‘mega’ had the audience screaming, ensured that we were deafened right away. After a flashback involving young Raj, a significant necklace and the extremely dramatic death of his parents, we learn that present day Raj (Ram Charan) is being brought up by comedy stalwart M.S. Narayana and his wife (Sudha). ‘Betting’ Raj spends his days, well, betting and when his adopted father needs a liver transplant it’s the ‘logical’ way for him to raise money. He accepts a wager with James (Ajmal Ameer) to make the daughter of a rich businessman fall in love with him. Raj and James have a history involving a train, 2 cars and a game of chicken, so Raj is not without some reservations, but his situation is desperate.

Chaitra (Tamanna) is that rich girl. Chaitra never seems to go anywhere without her escort of 2 motorbike outriders, 4 SUVs and various bodyguards, so it’s a real challenge for Raj to approach her at all. Luckily he has accomplices (a flock of comedy uncles) so Raj is able to attend to the serious business of flirtation. In one of the many fun tributes to Chiranjeevi sprinkled through the film Raj infiltrates her medical college to the strains of Shankar Dada MBBS and all the collar popping and swagger that goes with it. Naturally it doesn’t take long for Chaitra to appreciate the well styled hair and many charms of Raj. Or does she? Tamanna is a very capable actress, and she does get a bit more to do in Rachcha than we expected. Unfortunately she does get a few scenes where she seems more like an escaped mental patient as she marvels at waterfalls, flowers, a fence painted yellow etc.

As we knew from Badrinath, Tamanna has a great imagination for song costumes and accessories. Raj appears in a couple of full length capes and with a number of scarves. At one stage we thought perhaps she had been expecting a hero more famous for his multiple layers of singlets, shirts, jackets and scarves, but Charan wore it all with aplomb. The curse of the blind stylist only seems to strike at Tamanna but does strike hard and often. The constant mini skirt and short shorts outfits were not particularly flattering, and the choreography and camera angles didn’t help.

Mani Sharma’s songs aren’t brilliant musically speaking, but the picturisations are awesomely entertaining and the choreography is excellent. The costume teams go all out (poor Tamanna) and the dancing is infectiously energetic and engaging. Charan just gets better and better. He has a good musicality and a sense of the overall appearance of a song. He doesn’t fall into the trap of substituting too many tricks and gymnastics for dancing. It’s a pleasure to watch him, and his facial expressions in the songs are highly entertaining. Tamanna is his match in energy and expression.

The two actually dance together rather than just using the heroine purely for her glamour quotient and it feels like a real partnership. There isn’t any sizzling chemistry but more of a camaraderie which works well enough to make their romance acceptable, especially considering the rather dubious origins in a bet.

Chaitra’s father Bellary (Mukesh Rishi) is not impressed by Raj and when the pair escape he sends for the big guns in the form of Dev Gill in manic villain mode. You can tell he is insane because he wears a coat inspired by Noddy and Big Ears or a high school production of Pirates of Penzance. He had a pathological attachment to this coat and he never appeared without it. This diluted his menace considerably as we giggled uncontrollably every time we saw him.

The second half explains the real reason for the bet, and sets up the climax. The flashback episode is too long but it leads up to an excellent fight. The action scenes are brilliantly choreographed, using Charan’s physical skills to great effect. Raj was a resourceful and efficient fighter, usually going for the classic ‘kick em in the nuts’ approach rather than anything too impractical. Although he used a flaming wheel and even threw a motorbike at his atttackers in one scene so he was never dull. Sampath Nandi toyed with the audience when he put Charan, Dev Gill and a helicopter in one scene, teasing with the possibility of a Magadheera replay. Rather sensibly the director chose to leave Charan on the ground and let him deal with his problems the old-fashioned way – with a very impressive axe.

There is a pointless appearance by Ali. Brahmi, Venu Madhav and Srinivasa Reddy were moderately amusing in their roles and at least the story did have a flimsy reason for their presence. Srinivasa Rao Kota, Nasser, Raghu Babu and various others turn up and do their usual thing. Satya Krishnan makes a small appearance in a fun women vs men backyard cricket match, and there are some really enjoyable little moments with minor characters. We have to give a big shout-out to the backing dancers and the rather listless ‘dance students’ for their efforts. The comedy and subplots were all more or less tied to the main story which helped keep things moving along. The audience dissolved into hysterics when a man at a roadside restaurant knocked back his drink and then picked up a chicken and sniffed it. Granted that alone was pretty funny, but we did wonder if perhaps there was a reference there that we didn’t spot?

There were plenty of references throughout the film to Chiranjeevi movies and Charan wears a number of outfits that are pure Chiru style. White trousers, black socks and white loafers made a come back, as did loud shirts and colour blocking. He has his father’s mannerisms down pat and it added another dimension to the film to see how many of these tributes we could pick up. And we think it is a smart way for him to deal with the pressure of expectation – he is always compared to his father, so why not own those references and play them with his own style. We were a little disappointed that the significant necklace (which Chaitra could only discover late in the story) meant that Charan kept to a rather modest look, but Vaana Vaana with the dancing in the rain was some compensation.

We have now seen both the original Vaana Vaana from Gang Leader and this remix on the big screen, and the Mega Men certainly know their way around a rain song!

Rachcha is Charan’s vehicle and he delivers a full mass performance that is exciting and very watchable. Tamanna got plenty of cheers from our audience for her dancing and at her speech just before the climax. The songs and fights are so well executed that they had us cheering along too. It’s a visually pleasing film, and has a sense of fun in amongst the action and drama. The story is a familiar one, very much inspired by the type of films Chiru made back in the day, but who says that’s a bad thing? Despite a plethora of comedy uncles, Sampath Nandi delivers a fun and entertaining film that we both want to watch again.