Movie Review - Robot 'Double Rajinikanth Mazaa' * Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai

When Rajinikanth hits the screens, the audience is divided into 2 extreme groups – one who tease his comic hyperbole, forward jokes about superstar’s antics, and can’t seem to understand what the fuss around him is about. For the others, the man is a humble star or a demi-god like no other – an entertainer who despite his age maintains his mass appeal across generations, is versatile and they worship him. While, Twitter, Facebook are buzzing with all the ‘rocking’s, ‘awesome’s, and ‘taali-seeti’s in praise of the movie, theatres in most parts of the globe are celebrating and how!

It’s usually a writer’s tendency, to pen down anything that has been observed/seen/heard almost immediately. I do that too. Thoughts are fresh; words come easily, analyzing becomes a comparatively effortless task. When I stepped out of the theatre after watching Robot, my mind was swarming with endless thoughts and excitement. I could not stop gushing to anyone who cared to listen about the amazing 3 hrs I had spent in probably my most rewarding theatre visit till date. I felt a mix of emotions – exhilaration for having had a fantastic movie experience, satisfaction for walking out minus the feeling of being cheated, admiration for Shankar’s vision and ambition but largely, pride for being a part of the Indian cinema, which can finally boast of a befitting reply to movies from western counterparts.

Dr Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth), builds an andro-humanoid robot Chitti (Rajnikant) with an objective to help the Indian Army. Chitti is programmed to fight, dance, speak, learn, teach and do most things that humans can but with an unexplainable speed. However, his creation is rejected by boss Dr. Bohra (Danny Dangzongpa) blaming Chitti’s failure to deal with emotions. Vasi upgrades Chitti's to imitate emotions, not realizing Chitti’s first attraction and infatuation will be for Vasi's girlfriend Sana (Aishwarya Rai). When Chitti’s feelings are not reciprocated by Sana who considers him as a ‘toy-friend’, he is overcome with jealousy pangs and vengeance, turning him into a violent mayhem. Can he be stopped? It’s for you to watch!
Simply put, Robot is by far the most entertaining film to have been made in India. It’s the perfect example of a good, blend of histrionics, emotions, action, drama. It’s a deadly combination of the biggest superstar Rajinikanth, world beauty Aishwarya, big fat budget rightly justified by the visual effects with an Indian tag.  Despite its extensive use of effects, it doesn’t feel animated, never gets too intense and has a little bit of every genre thrown in for the Indian appetite. Yes, the film could have done with editing of a couple songs and scenes to make it crisper, but a substantial part of the film does command a second dekho.

The star Rajini sir, praising him is a literal case of ‘choti mooh badi baat’. He jumps, swivels, romances, fights, and never ceases to amaze. He is subtle and explosive in balanced measures for which the partial credit also goes to Director Shankar for playing the cards of direction and screenplay perfectly. Watch out for his scene when Chitti is looking at his image in the mirror with a straight face, and then suddenly breaks into the meanest laugh. You get goose bumps and that’s the effect of the superstar. Aishwarya does what she does best – looking dolled up, sadly for the Hindi audience, the translations, dialogues does make it a little heavier, the original ‘Endhiran’ obviously getting brownie points here. An aspect that seemed very doubtful to me in the promos, the camaraderie between the leads is near perfect, not OTT, just soft and works. The supporting cast of Danny is effective, the rest are played ably. Rathnavelu’s camera effect is superlative; songs shot in exotic locales add the additional zest. Sabu Cyril’s art design is highly commendable.

Finally, ROBOT is a celebration of larger-than-life extravaganza called RAJINIKANTH. If you thought he was glorified for his sunglass, cigarette gimmicks, punch dialogues, and other unfathomable stunts, watch ROBOT to discover that there is more to the actor than just stunts. You won’t be disappointed.
Verdict: I don’t need to tell a Rajini fan to watch the movie. If you’re not a Rajini Fan, consider going for this one. You might just convert after watching Robot.

On second thoughts: Can we have 1st October declared as ‘RAJINI ‘ROBOT’ DAY’ already?!