My Thoughts: Happiness - A result or An Experience? Ask yourself

My Thoughts: Happiness - A result or An Experience? Ask yourself

Endhiran

I watched Endhiran almost a week after its release as I had gone to Bangalore and had to patiently await my brother's return who had gone outstation for a training as we wanted to see the movie as a whole family for the first time.

This really helped going to watch the movie with a very open mind to savour the experience, after allowing all the hype to build around it as well as listening to some moderating comments from some quarters revealing how this is not a typical superstar film characterized by a grand opening scene and / or an introduction song or replete with punchlines that have come to typify even poor imitators of this great man.

I had always believed that this would be an out and out Shankar film given that it is exploring unchartered territories of film making (not script writing) across all film industries in India and hence was even happy to know these things about the movie before watching it.

I am floored by this movie simply for the audacity shown by Shankar in going against all norms usually attached to a Rajni film (which he himself is guilty of in Sivaji) and retaining the core of what was in his heart while envisioning this movie all along.

I am personally tired of seeing the compulsive nature with which hollywood deals with all robotic movies as a clash to save the world from aliens always descending only in New York.

It was such a refreshing change to see the canvas of a triangular love story being used for a science fiction movie.

Also having this as a backdrop Shankar has not gone about doing something silly and actually starts off with a tangible thought of a scientist (Vaseegaran, played by Rajni) using Artificial Intelligence and attempting to augment the Indian Army

with an andro-humanoid (Chitti, the Robot also played by Rajni) with a noble intent of saving lives of soldiers. A true vision which goes out of control.

Rajni essays the character of Chitti astoundingly well. He is a constant companion for Sana who is Vasee's girlfriend(Played by Aish) helping her even cheat in exams. The straight interpretation to the spoken word that he is programmed with evokes so much of levity in the first half that it just breezes past us. The best sequence being with the late Mohd Haneefa who comes as a traffic cop trying to get a bribe from Chitti for keeping the car in a no parking zone.

The train sequence fight to save Aish from the clutches of her hostile neighbour (a nerdy character done quite enthusiastically by Raghav) and his gang of goons is simply stunning for both the graphics as well as for the stunt choreography. The earlier fight with the same gang in a slum area has a hilarious dimension with the goons not knowing what they are dealing with.

Danny (Vasee's senior and mentor) is himself trying to create andro-humanoids for commercially exploiting it by selling it to terrorist organizations, but is very unsuccessful in perfecting the neural schema!!

Danny who is in the approving board for certifying Chitti's fitness for use by the army, gets jelous of Vasee and disapproves it logically by proving that it has no emotion and makes it come within a fraction of an inch of stabbing its own creator at his instructions.

Vasee confounds everyone by building the cognitive ability to develop emotions in Chitti's neural schema (Usually it is my boon/bane to use complex words but this time it is Shankar's script which has these genuinely researched words that fit his script to the tee) and the few scenes that Shankar uses to establish Chitti's emotive side are simply superb.

Danny while expressing that he now has no problems approving also has a sly remark of the impending things to come.

Chitti v2.0 starts from here itself with subtle shades of negativity that is very entertaining.

Chitti starts competing with its own creator in romancing Aish and his emotive side swells into a level of maturity of scheming against the very purpose of his creation. He wantonly screws up his revaluation with the army so that he can be in the civilian world and romance Aish.

An enraged Vasee goes beserk and dismembers (oops...dismantles) Chitti completely and has it thrown into the dumpyard.

Danny who comes to know this goes in search of Chitti's remains and is successful in giving it a new lease of existence and in return has Chitti sharing its neural schema to make his terrorist mission a succes. Shankar portrays this as an emotional compromise by Chitti in contrast to an earlier incident, when Vasee first unveils Chitti in a robotic conference. Danny's attempt to interact with Chitti directly in obtaining its neural schema is so brilliantly put down by Chitti, who can only think straight, that it makes Danny highly embarrased and thinking on his feet to cover up his intent.

Danny adds a twist by giving Chitti additional intelligence to turn totally negative but that turns against him as Chitti goes about replicating himself using Danny's WIP andro-humanoids, even killing Danny in the process who objects to this.

What follows is a scintillating climax episode of 45 minutes which brings to the fore Rajni's ability to portray villainy in the way ONLY he can.

Rajni as the villain completely erases Danny's character from your mind and which is why I am not even able to recall his character name in this review :-)

Infact Danny has done a very chic performance and full justice to his role and yet this is what is the effect Rajni has as the villain.

Chitti goes beserk and abducts Aish from the altar of her wedding with Vasee, loots the city and builds an empire of its own to lead a life with Aish. The scene where Chitti explains his vision for his life with Sana left me in a daze as to how intense Rajni can portray a character if he chooses to.

Vasee dressed as Chitti infiltrates into Chitti's kingdom as one of its clones and works himself into Aish's room to serve dinner. He is forced to prove himself to her by cutting his hand to show his blood. 

Subsequently when Chitti sees the drop of blood and Aish explains it as her own, he corners her with his ability to match it with her blood group. The villainic sarcasm portrayed by Rajni in some of these scenes are a treat.

Chitti has all his clones assembled in an attempt to find THE BLACK SHEEP among them. This sequence to me is the best episode of the film w.r.t the spine chilling villainy portrayed by the superstar especially the way he expresses his dismay at only finding a robot midway and eventually his glee at having found Vasee.

Just when he is about to finish off Vasee, the police force enters with counter acting weapons (apparently with Vasee's inputs) that neutralizes chitti and his clones for a brief while and enables Vasee to escape with Aish.

Shankar the visionary takes over from Rajni at this point in delivering the most scintillating climax Indian cinema has ever witnessed with Chitti fighting a battle

jointly with all his clones.

The way Chitti aligns all the wirelessly networked clones into multiple chain formations to decimate the police force trying to contain him leaves everyone in the audience gasping for breath and spell bound. Visual effects of the highest order that we have been used to seeing only in hollywood movies till the good fortune of having been "Endhiraned".

I think anyone seeing this movie on pirate DVD is a double distilled idiot just for the sake of missing the visual effects of the last 20-30 minutes and therin lies Shankar's brilliance of execution. Hats off to him for having gone global to where the talent and resources are to create this spectacular fare(and thanks to Sun Pictures for trusting this venture and allowing him the scale to do so).

Vasee fights with Chitti from a remote van trying to inject worms / virus to dismantle Chitti and his clones. Kudos to Rajni for accepting to play the character of Vasee, which Shankar has had the guts to conceive in full touch with reality and not having any heroics reserved for him other than his ability to fight Chitti with his intellect. To me this is what has made Chitti the hero, comedian and villain all rolled into one.

After a brilliant sequence that finally neutralizes Chitti, Vasee manages to evict the negative chip from Chitti.

Vasee is convicted by the Court with capital punishment for wreaking havoc on humanity but then Chitti who is now restored back to his pristine glory by Vasee comes to the rescue of his creator(who he considers his God before being corrupted by Danny) as witness and even intelligenty argues that law considers all forms of material evidence acceptable.

Chitti through his eyes projects the episode which he has captured in his memory of Danny mentioning his evil plans of making Chitti go beserk so that the blame falls on Vasee and hence saves Vasee from any sort of punishment by further arguing that loss of life due to a machine should only be deemed an accident.

But owing to this admission, the court pronounces that Chitti be dismantled in the presence of law enforcement agencies and kept encapsulated in a safe zone as the country is not yet ready for such an advancement.

Shankar underlines Chitti's emotional side with a subtle nuance to the final scene when it interprets Vasee's inability to execute the court order and volunteers for help. Vasee with a broken heart asks Chitti to dismantle himself causing a lump in everyone's throat.

The scene where Chitti dismantles himself part by part while still consoling and apologising to all others around is truly the icing on the cake for this spectacular movie. It makes the whole movie linger in your mind forever.

What a film this is. Shankar take a bow. You are a marvel.

You have not thought big just in terms of technicality but also in terms of the boundaries that Rajni can scale and given us a version of the superstar whom we not only celebrate but ADORE.

You have the audacity to actually ask, why the hell should a Rajni film have an introduction scene or introduction song to celebrate him, when you can pack in the punch and deliver a whole movie that celebrates him not just as a star but also as the genuine performer that he is.

Yes, Endhiran is a celebration of Rajni's talent in all its intensity.

I usually take pride in declaring how many times I have watched a super star movie and try to better the previous release. But this time I make an open promise to myself....I am not even going to keep a count :-)

Cheers,

Mahesh

Raavanan

With a Maniratnam film (and anyone who keeps releasing a movie once in 2 or 3 years) it is always a tough choice between reviewing the film and how the film is made. A lot comes to be expected by the audience on both the fronts and hence it is inevitable that the review touches upon the latter as well.

If i were to put Ramayanam in a nutshell, it is all about God enacting a larger design that includes 14 years of vanavasam, refusing the love interest of surpanaka, wilfully chasing a magical deer allowing the abduction, killing another demon of a brother named Vaali in the course of a path that is designed to culminate in a war with Raavanan aimed at vanquishing him and all this at the behest of the Devas who constantly keep going to Maha Vishnu to help them decimate one asura or the other. Given this overall context, it is pretty much possible that Raavanan had many strong aspects to his personality many of which could be positive traits which do not find a mention in the mainstream narration of the Epic as it is more about the virtues of Lord Rama.

The movie Raavanan is however about a step brother who is out to avenge the police force for violating the modesty of his step sister in the course of attempting an encounter on him in her marriage during which he is made to escape by his devout gang of followers. The foundation of Veera's character being an outlaw as that is the only way to represent the interests of a subjugated lot of tribal people, in no way reminds you of the character in the Epic who runs his own prosperous kingdom only to commit excesses like getting a invincible boon from Lord Siva causing the devas to shit in their pants and run to Maha Vishnu. Starting from his name it is nothing but a symbolisation of the sandalwood smuggler who has variations of folklore about him being a hero for his local populace and who had his own misgivings with the police force.

Having compared the outlines of the two stories, I am wondering what made me compare it in the first place given so many departures from each other.

Sadly the following tenuous reasons which I do not expect from someone like Maniratnam

a) Title of the movie being Ravanan of which there is only a fleeting reference by Prithviraj's narration that Veera is known as Raavanan by the local populace for his multi-faceted traits

b) A forest guard officer who jumps from tree tops to jeep tops constantly muttering uttalakadi girigiri just to indicate there is a representation of Vanara race, in the process also doubling up as Hanuman only during the episode of going as a messenger (A caricature of the powerful Sundarakandam episode of Ramayana that showcases the valour, virtues and divinity of Hanuman).

c) Just before the Surpanaka's character's modesty is outraged, she being hurt in the nose by the police officer who represents Lakshmana's character. Lakshmana cuts her ears and nose in the epic for her act of attempting to get physical with Rama. Here Lakshmana's character gets physical with Surpanaka's out of a sheer exploitation of holding her hostage till Veera's whereabouts are known.

d) It is said that Raavana's end will come when he first touches Sita. That parallel can be seen in the last scene where Vikram touches Aish for the only time to push her down to take the bullet aimed at him which she is preventing (having understood him fully).

Having said all this, I have no problems with the script of Raavanan. I feel that by itself it is a well made movie with exceptional visuals and good music and quite an enjoyable screen play. I would have really loved this movie had it been simply named Beera or Veeraiyya (as Veera is already a super star film title) and the narration had started logically at a point that justifies his heroism among the local populace with a sudden interruption of the abduction episode leaving the audience to wonder why he commits the excess with a natural flow to the past where his step sister gets assaulted, culminating in a climax that shows Prithviraj eventually emerging the winner for the simple fact that it is the politically correct thing to show to the masses.

I am just completely let down by the fact that Mani choses to ride on the epic to tell a interesting narrative when We all know how it could be a role reversal where the police commits the first excess resulting in the marginalisation of a few and the emergence of a righteous leader among them.We dont need to see an epic being pulled into the mud and its lead characters like Rama and Lakshmana being shown as saddists or immoralists to drive home such a possiblity that even a guy like Raavanan could have had his own justifications to commit his excesses.

The movie actually shows Rama's character pressing the dismembered shoulder of Veera's brother in law (who is himself a victim of Veera for he deserts his sister immediately after marriage after seeing the police encounter) just to show that he is not disturbed by such acts of Veera as he thinks it is a psychological game to make him give up his pursuit of Veera. Further he mercilessly shoots down the younger brother of Veera who comes to broker peace and reflective of a parallel to the sandalwood smuggler's life history where he lost his brother Arjun to a police encounter.

To earn the title of Ravanan and to get even remotely compared to the epic in terms of content (not narration) Mani should have worked more on the script to show justifications on both sides of the warring gangs resulting in two men of equal valour fighting it out due to a contentious clash of perspectives or ideologies with one emerging the eventual winner based on which side the box office might prefer or the title already tilts towards.

Like Thalabadhi, it would have been so wonderful if it had kept the audience guessing whether it was inspired by Raavanan or Veerappan or neither....by just avoiding the obvious references to Ramayana and the convenient departures to satisfy an atheist agenda.

I loved the locales, cinematography and Vikram's mind blowing portrayal of a complex characterisation.But on the whole I am a little disappointed with Maniratnam's thought process of making this movie this way.

What I still dont like in Maniratnam's films which is again something that surfaces in this movie is a scene in a flashback where Aish after listening to the excesses of Veera from her husband and colleague (Lakshmana character Hemanth) starts excitedly saying things like..."what are you guys then waiting for....why dont you shoot him down immediately....after all we have given you uniforms to protect us".
Mani has this irritating habit of having a child like solutions to complex issues pouted by either a child or the most beautiful woman in the sets with the hope that the audience will love them just because it comes from such a person. It gets on atleast my nerve.

Usually I see Maniratnam's films multiple times in theater but I am looking forward to his next film already and more with the hope that he will choose a smaller set of variables to deal with and deliver a more enjoyable screenplay like Agninaksathram, Mouna Raagam or Alaipayudhae.

I really feel Mani should limit the size of his canvas and focus more on the picture he is painting. Refrain from too many things in one movie like making it a bilingual, making it pan indian, involving a ensemble cast and so on. I believe this creates so many distractions both in terms of expectations for the movie goer as well as narrative compromises for the movie maker.

I think Roja was a great film but has done more damage in terms of forcing him to always think of employing a lot of variables in film making just for the heck of raising the bar.

Hoping to get back the vintage Maniratnam soon in his very next movie !!!

Dasavatharam

Spoiler Alert: If you are interested in watching the movie without knowing the storyline please skip this review. I have written major aspects of the story line as I found the internet replete with opinionated reviews that were more of a malicious propaganda against the movie and hence thought I will give a complete account of the movie to put it in proper perspective.

You might find all my cine reviews appreciating the movie but then I have so far felt like writing a review for only those films that caught my imagination.I did watch Kuruvi and Arai En 305il Kadavul in the same weekend but wrote a review only for the latter.

Now that I have clarified this aspect...I want to start off by saying that an amazing storyline, non stop entertainment filled screenplay and a few amazing characterizations make Dasavatharam a very fulfilling movie watching experience.

More than the 10 characters essayed by the legendary actor....it is the story writer in him that stands out as the ultimate hero of this whole project. Off course the humungous effort that this perfectionist puts into each frame of the movie makes you pray for his success lest we lose his talent to the dictate of market forces. But I do not think that is anyway required for this movie of his as it has the ability to carry itself and go on to be a blockbuster.

I would want to emphatically state before even analysing the movie any further that it lives up to all its hype and deserves every bit of promotion that it has got so far.

Before writing this review I glanced at some of those rumoured photographs that got out before the movie released that showed him and Asin as Bush and his wife....I could not stop laughing....for it was far removed from the actual quality of what was shown in the movie....

1. On the one hand Kamal is made to look exactly like Bush and not as shown in that rumoured promotional still....(which looks more like Mike Atherton than Bush) and
2. On the other Asin does not play US's first lady in the movie.
   

The movie has a mix of technical brilliance as well as technical glitches. The scenes that have different characters of Kamal appearing in the same scene is technically brilliant w.r.t the characters merging on the scene as if it were done by different physical people at the same point of time. The graphics of the initial 12th Century BC boat ride through a water way and the Tsunami are not that appealing as it is too obvious a computer imagery to make you a part of the experience like how a Titanic could get you involved.

But if you are watching this movie....please do not focus on this negativity as the entertainment value of this film has so many other facets to it that you will only be the loser for having paid for the ticket and focussing on all the irrelevant aspects to criticize in an Indian movie.

The story line is an exceptional one that uses chaos theory as its canvas to interconnect seemingly unconnected dots into an overall pattern of events culminating into a message that even as big a human tragedy as the Tsunami could have had a much greater design behind it such that the hidden benefit of it far outweighs the loss it created.

The movie starts off with an episode set in 12th Century BC where a forceful ruler King Kulothungan (played very effectively by Napolean) who is an ardent Shiva worshipper, orders the deity of Lord Vishnu to be immersed in the Sea as a measure to force all of South India to be only Lord Shiva worshippers.

Kamal who plays an Iyengar Priest (and a child hood friend of the King) vehemently opposes the same but is not able to do anything against the force of the King and gets immersed in the sea along with the deity for refusing to utter a prayer in the name of Lord Shiva.

The story moves on to the present generation where Kamal as Govinda Raju plays a Indian Scientist in US who is part of an advanced research team working on cutting edge bio technology.
They are shown to be studying a dangerous substance which can cause havoc to humanity if not utilized properly and this substance (virus) gets sold to the wrong hands by the senior management of the research team.

Govind who gets suspicious of this plot steals that substance from the lab so that he can hand it over to the FBI and expose the scam.

However he is chased down by a ex CIA agent (Fletcher) also played by Kamal who is hired by the corrupt management of the research lab.....and in an attempt to escape him with the help of his friend, Govind gets his parcel mixed up with that of his friend who is sending a shipment to India....and hence the story shifts to India....

Fletcher along with Mallika Sherawat (CIA trained Tamilian) as his translator follow Govind to India....

Here comes the entry of Balram Naidu (Kamal as a Telugu speaking RAW officer) which sustains your interest in the movie till the last frame. I think this role will be the newest feather in this legend's cap. The humour that this character evokes in the movie is to be seen to be believed as all the entertainment is situational and is based on his blind loyalty to the Telugu speaking fraternity.

Govind is initially in the custody of Balram Naidu and is then kidnapped by Fletcher and Mallika so that they can get their hands on the substance

What then follows is a edge of the seat thriller which introduces the rest of Kamal's characterizations at appropriate intervals.

Patti(Grandma) Character - to whose address Govind randomnly misdirects the shipment of the virus (so that it does not fall in wrong hands). Kamal plays a woman in her nineties who has lost it in the mind due to an untimely demise of her son in the 1950s and refuses to believe in it and is still expecting parcels and letters from him.....it is one of those parcels which well wishers of her family keep sending from US to keep her hopes alive that Govind chooses to keep the virus container in for safe custody.

The naughty patti refuses to part with the virus parcel thinking it is meant for her and eventually drops it inside of a Lord Vishnu statue which is going on a religious parade instead of handing it over to Govind.

This makes Govind forcefully take the Lord Vishnu statue and flee with Andal (Asin's 2nd gen character) in hot pursuit.... Andal is one character which gets on your nerve...but to be fair to Asin her comic timing keeps pace with that of Kamal and does not spoil the movie's pace.

Japanese Martial Arts Teacher- who is initially behind Govind and then after Fletcher as he gets to know that it is Fletcher and not Govind who was behind the murder of his sister. (Govind's friend in US is married to a Japanese both of whom are killed by Fletcher in an encounter to get at Govind)

Dalit Leader character - this character is typical of Anbe Sivam (Nallasivam) who is an activist against sand quarrying by P Vasu and Santhanabharathi and whose actions save Govind and Andal from the clutches of the quarry gang.

Khalifulla character - a 7 foot muslim whose family gets injured in a road accident as Kamal and Andal escape in a lorry from the clutches of the quarry gang. Andal's irresponsible behaviour causes the lorry to collide with the Van.

Avtar Singh character - A punjabi pop star who is suffering from throat cancer and who gets admitted in the same hospital that Khalifulla's family gets admitted. Oh Oh Sanam being Avtar's last stage show before his operation.

George Bush - Kamal plays GB to perfection. The makeup looks very professional and is almost like a mask of his face instead of a make up. Kamal's accent is perfected to that of an American.
This role is very limited in terms of scene exposure and is used to only make some comic statements in typical Bush style without realizing the impact of the out break of Virus. The only reason Kamal seems to have donned this character is because you cannot hire Bush himself to act and expose his intellect like this and if someone has to act him out....who better can it be than Kamal himself.

The climax is one where Fletcher manages to get hold of the virus parcel from Govind after a long hard chase that ends on the sea shore. By that time the Japanse martial arts teacher also reaches the sea shore and declares that Fletcher has to die for killing his sister.

A very good martial arts fight sequence ends with Fletcher being brutally defeated and Balram Naidu reaching the spot in a helicopter by then (He atlasts gets his investigative skills right in the climax as all the while he chases Govind as the terrorist).

A cornered Fletcher consumes the virus in an attempt to spread it....(this is one part that is not acceptable since Fletcher is shown as a merciless mercenary who kills for the sake of money and him consuming the virus as if he is a brainwashed terrorist out to destroy the world is not properly fitting into the overall cogency of the screen play).

Fletcher is quickly reduced to the blood vomitting and decaying corpse which has a potential to spread the virus to millions around his epicenter.......requiring tons and tons of NaCL to quell the impact.........

Lo and behold comes the awe invoking TSUNAMI of Dec 2004 and washes away Fletcher and the deadly virus along with it (The NaCL in the sea water also acting as an effective antedote to the spread of the virus).

Andal and Govind are then shown interacting with each other in an attempt to convey their love interest to each other.....Andal putting a very strict condition that it will be impossible to consummate their love into marriage if Govind keeps denying the existence of God....

Govind's interesting response to Andal is that "I never told that God does not exist. I am only saying it will be good if he exists" :-)

And as if to answer the scientist character's pondering, the screenplay writer in Kamal responds with an apt answer.

As the camera zooms out it shows Govind and Andal walking away from the backside of the 12th Century BC statue that gets washed ashore by the Tsunami....

The symbolic interpretation here being that it can only take a Tsunami to bring that huge deity out from the depths of the ocean onto the sea shore and amidst humanity where it rightfully belongs.....and further that God chooses that point of time to come ashore (riding on the Tsunami) so as to quell the impact of a major virus that could have affected a greater section of the humanity....(as compared to the loss of life on the immediate shoreline).

It is a well known fact that Kamal is an atheist in real life....but that is not what he is telling in this movie.

The scientist character is an Atheist and reflects the real life view of the actor......however Kamal as the story writer has left it to the imagination of the viewer whether to construe the greater design behind the tragedy is

==> What the scientifically inclined world knows it better as chaos theory (or butterfly effect)

Or

==> What the spiritually inclined world believes it as "an act of God"

Let me sum up the movie with this conclusion

Is there value for money for your ticket if you watch this movie????

Well

IT CANNOT GET BIGGER THAN THIS

Kamal you are a genius....it is as simple as that.....it is but naturual then, that I doff my hat :-)

Arai En 305-il Kadavul

It was really one of the most refreshing films that I have seen and a lot of credit goes to Simbudevan for his creative screenplay and exceptional graphics that really hike the bar of tamil cinema.

The concept of the movie is almost the same as “Anbe Sivam” which manifests almost directly in one of Prakash Raj’s dialogues where he tells Rajesh (an atheist) “anbu dhaan kadavul”. However the backdrop of narration to convey the concept is at the other end of the spectrum as compared to “Anbe Sivam”.

This is such a light film on the mind that not a single frame goes without you appreciating it for one nuance or the other.

Thanks to Google Maps and IPL’s usage of the same a lot of films are using a drill down from the galaxy to show the shifting of a location within the story narration (something I observed in Kuruvi as well).

The film opens with the mighty galaxy milky way and drills down to another non-descript milky way ( a god forsaken street in Triplicane that bears the name of Paul Street translated into Paal Veedhi in Tamil).

The movie is majorly set in a Triplicane mansion the inmates of which form the predominant starcast of the movie.

The way each character is introduced is again a sample of genuine creativity where real life photos from different ages of each artiste are shown as a summary before showing how they look in this film along with the character’s name. Infact when it comes to introducing Jyotirmayi’s character, a real life family photo which has her mother as well is shown but the face is edited to that of Kuyili since she is her mother in the film. While it clearly shows as a superimposed image, what comes to the rescue is the usage of the appropriate photo of Kuyili in terms of age since it is an adolescent stage photo of Jyotirmayi.

Such an attention to detail is rare in Indian Cinema and has been introduced and followed only by stalwarts like Kamal, Maniratnam and Shankar. Simbudevan shows a sample to indicate he is in that league.

Santhanam(Rasu) and Ganja Karuppu (Mokkai) are room mates who neither have a job nor the qualifications to get one. Inevitably they are in debt with the mansion and all vendors of essential supplies.

The initial scenes of the movie show how each vendor is warning these two of breaching the credit limit and the sequence reaches a crescendo with the mansion manager (MS Bhaskar) giving an ultimatum to quit the mansion in a single day. The last nail in the coffin being driven by a loathful dialogue from Bhaskar(which is the usual clichéd taunt in all Indian movies) which challenge the chastity of Santhanam’s mother. Santhanam’s crestfallen reaction to that shows how good a potential character artiste he can go on to become.

The last night in the mansion is spent by our protagonist duo in drinking to glory with their inebriated self reaching an extent of prompting them to taunt GOD with the same loathful words of MS Bhaskar.
Lo and Behold….Prakash Raj makes an appearance in earthly costume…..as GOD…..and the movie goes on to a totally different plane from then on.

The scenes which establish Prakash Raj as God and the innocent (or ignorant) line of questioning from Ganja Karuppu to him are simply outstandingly conceived and executed by both actors.
God tries to reason out with Rasu and Mokkai that every individual’s present lot is only due to action or inaction of their own in the past and their future lot is also completely in the actions they take as of today.

With some brilliant creativity and graphics like the one where Rasu and Mokkai are reduced to the size of the tip of a burning matchstick to make them realize how God’s attention to life forms touches as small a thing as a mosquito the narration goes on till interval where God is engaged in a telling conversation that hints at him parting ways with them. This makes Rasu and Mokkai plead with God to stay back for one more night as the next day happens to be Rasu’s birthday.
You actually get the feeling that the story is almost over and keep wondering whether it is a movie without an interval that is going to finish overall in 90 minutes.

A slightly childish (but professionally executed) piece of creativity is the theorization of Godly power being embodied in a digital device that has a golden light emitting facade. In a scene where Prakash Raj explains it as the entire power of the galaxy in his possession through which he gets notified of every single happening in the cosmos….something similar to getting SMS on mobile (as innocently interpreted by Mokkai)….you get the feeling that this movie might get out of control with sensibility.
But then when you finish watching the movie that aspect of creativity is what hits you like a ton of thousand thunderbolts.

Simbudevan, the creative genius that he is, has used that device getting stolen and misused (akin to credit cards getting stolen and misused) by Rasu and Mokkai as the canvas to extend the movie to a full three hours of sensible story telling.

His visualization or concept (as they say in asathapovathu yaaru) is one by which if God were to descend to earth with an externalized concept of godliness which gets stolen by mere mortals:
· How that power is likely to get misused in purile earthly wants by mere mortals; and
· How God, sans the Godly power, can still emit the divinity from within despite living as a mere mortal under the same trying conditions of our protagonist mansion dwellers.

It is Prakash Raj’s execution of God in the form of a mere mortal that takes the cake, baker and the bakery. He has given life to the story narration in the only way he can.

One of the mansion dwellers gets privy to the fact that Prakash Raj is God and also the fact that Rasu and Mokkai have stolen his Godly power. Ilavarasan (The manguni amaichar in 23rd Pulikesi) plays a very good support role in this film.

In one scene where Ilavarasan’s character wonders about the ill-effects of godly power falling into the wrong hands of jobless petty thiefs, the dialogue of Prakash Raj is a very good sample of how creative and telling the whole film’s content is made up of
“If a deer suddenly grows horns all over its body it does not mean that it will get violent and start killing other species. It will only continue to do what it knows like eating grass and running fast from trouble” so much to say that Rasu and Mokkai cannot think out of their capabilities to do any harm to the world.

In another context where Ganja Karuppu asks some leading question in an attempt to understand how God uses the device to control the entire universe or cosmos God shows him a lizard and tells him that “It is impossible to make that lizard understand how the tubelight functions. As far as the lizard is concerned it is a source of light which produce light on and off. Similarly it is not possible for you to understand what all I do to control this cosmos”.

A particular scene which engages God in human capacity and Rajesh (an atheist character) in a discussion about the concept of God is the most intellectual and meaningful dialogue of the whole film and is capable of making even atheists understand what divinity is all about.

Delhi Ganesh as Santhanam’s father plays a brilliant cameo. I simply cannot stop admiring him for the ease with which he slips inside the skin of any character he is asked to play in his long career as a character artiste. His predisposition about Santhanam’s inability to do anything worthwhile makes him wonder and ask his son how he made so much money overnight. When Santhanam abstracts his conduct and tells him that he found a software, Delhi Ganesh’s reply to that is stunning when he asks him back “who lost it?”(This is one of the many pearls that make up the movie’s original comedy track).

Another scene where an astrologer reads the palm of God and makes analytical statements about God’s family (both past and future) in the presence of all the mansion inmates is a laugh riot. The hidden meaning behind Prakash Raj’s mischievous responses and the ignorant but serious reactions of MS Bhaskar that end up reflecting on himself (Since God’s family is nothing but this entire human race) is such a laugh riot that you have to see it to enjoy and cannot be narrated in a piece of writing. This scene really had us in splits.

The film has the usual concept of a villain and one fight sequence where God in the form of a mere mortal is having to handle him with attack as the mode given the fact that it is the ultimate social balance or equilibrium which is more important in some situations compared to even taking the life out of a life form.

The turn of events that lead to Ilavarsan finding the godly device from a garbage can (since he now holds a job in NeelMetal Fanalca) and restoring it to Prakash Raj in the nick of time where he almost gets his head chopped off by the villain are all more of a normal story telling in tamil films that become inevitable to finish the movie.

Towards the end the movie shows how each character in the mansion benefited from its association with God during his human existence in terms of correcting their way of life and going on to become worthwhile individuals in their own spheres.

But just when you think the movie has a fairytale ending, Simbudevan’s ticklish bone takes over when he shows two more youths on the terrace of another godforsaken mansion calling out to God in foul language as a means of venting out the frustration of their lot.
Prakash Raj makes an appearance again but with a twinkle in his eyes as the camera goes down to focus on this kurta pocket where he usually keeps the cosmos device which is full of locks and chains so that it does not get stolen again.

You can rob Simbudevan of some credit by comparing his movie to Bruce Almighty. The only difference I feel is that while the Hollywood flick focuses more on the guy inheriting the godly power this film uses those characters more for a comedy side track and focuses on God who loses that power and how he exists in a human world without the power but retaining his divinity.

As a natural consequence this movie is able to hold its focus on the strong message of the correct mindset to adopt for living and is worth enjoying every frame over and over again with the whole family

Om Shanthi Om

Om Shanthi Om is one of the best movies of The King Khan (SRK). It has a storyline that is based on the concept of Re-incarnation. The reason I say this first is that not many people will agree to it being a real concept.

But wait a minute what is Real. 

Reality exists but in words....within the collective but finite human intelligence present in this planet. There is always something outside this boundary of finite intelligence which has no boundaries and where anything is possible....It is a totally different realm of intelligence in which reality itself can be sculpted.

Many people (across all religious faiths) believe that this form of intelligence is the domain of the Almighty. We as mere mortals can only hope to operate in this realm by wielding a camera or a megaphone...in other words in reel life.

So a movie should by all means be allowed to operate in that realm and weave concepts that are a mixture of real and unreal as long as the overall experience is cogent and offers wholesome entertainment.

OSO is a completely cogent film and offers wholesome entertainment as it is a beautiful mix of comedy, satire, sentiment,bollywood-group celebrations, revenge, thrills and even a haunting experience.

OSO is a celebration of bollywood itself. It is a movie that has been made with so much bonhomie and good humour that it has several current bollywood stars making a parody of their own future positions in the industry.

It is a fact that some inconvenient aspects of the stars of yesteryears have been projected but purely on the platform of satirical comedy with no offense meant. After all in a democratic country it is the right of everyone to voice their opinions especially on public figures and their performances and that does not exclude the next generation of stars taking a potshot at some of their own pastmasters.

SRK is brilliant throughout but he is at his best in scenes where as a junior artiste he performs like an ambitious hero only to be pulled away from the camera. And the one scene where his dream heroine comes to meet him in person and thank him for saving her from the perils of a set on fire, his expressions for his voice over which never comes out of his mouth however much he tries is not only hilarious but also showcases his complete talent as a consummate actor.

Deepika Padukone is a gift to this industry as she is not only very beautiful but also very expressive and knows the art of moderating her expressiveness as well. She shows a very good difference between her first character and that of the next generation.

Arjun Rampal as the sophisticated villain of the past as well as the hollywood return producer is magnificent in both his looks as well as his assertiveness.

All characters have done their best in making the film complete. For example Satish Shah just takes a couple of scenes as a megaphone wielding director of yesteryears to leave a lasting impression with his unique brand of comedy.

Farah Khan deserves so much credit for this film as she has created a lot of first instances in this movie

• Stars shedding their ego and making light of themselves and their future projections in a filmfare event of the future (with the next generation SRK bagging it ....but of course who else)
• Mixing of yesteryear heroes on screen with Deepika's first generation film character in such a complete way that even shows Deepika touching them and the yesteryear characters reacting to it with appropriate facial expressions. The graphics in this scene is near perfect.
• Om Shanthi Om is not only the movie's title but is also the title of the movie being made within the film. While this is not a first time concept the novel way in which event of that film's premiere is being used to introduce all the characters and technicians of the main film is simply appreciable. She has gone a step forward and introduced right upto the light boys who contributed towards the making of the film
• Actually when Farah herself arrives with the caption of Director the premiere event is actually over and the red carpets are being rolled up. This not only shows her inate sense for humour but also the fact that she is capable of setting the pace for taking a joke made on oneself.

Off course there are some aspects of attention to detail which Farah Khan should scale up on. The authenticity of yesteryear scenes are hugely impacted by the following things

• Deepika's stylish english accent that represents more of a modern generation
• State of the art ketchup squeeze bottles at the cafeteria shop on the yesteryear sets
• A few young kids roaming around in the background with ultra modern dress (like cargos) when SRK and his friend are discussing in that same cafeteria.

Maybe it will be a good idea for the Bollywood industry to involve some random samples of the general movie watching public in some contest (which also is a revenue source for the film) and where the top 10 winners are shown a sneak preview show to catch such mistakes as sometimes only the public is capable of spotting such glaring misses.

Only a person who does not passionately own a work product can find mistakes in that dispassionately. Such good practices from IT industry can be exploited by the movie industry as well and I am sure the general public would only be too keen to participate in such contests and improve a film before it hits the box office.

These glitches however do not take anything away from the completeness of the film. In fact a lot of times attention to too much detail can sometimes take the focus from the overall theme and I would not fault Farah's lack of attention to these details considering her overall vision in making this script very cogent.

Infact in this fast paced highly transactional world, there are not many films that leave you with a lasting impression that continues even the next day.

OSO is one such film that makes you repeatedly relive the movie watching experience and makes you want to plan the next visit to the movie halls at the corner of your mind.

This film is a must-see for all.