Sivaji - Review

Despite being a South-Indian, I was never in awe of the super star who reigned in the hearts of thousands of devoted fans. In fact, I used to find his gimmicks so sick that I never watched any of Rajni's super hit films. However, after watching Sivaji, my view about Rajni has changed a lot. I went to watch the movie out of curiosity rather than anything else...and came out of the theatre with my heart filled with content for a watching a good movie after a long time.

The Plot
Kudos to director Shankar for coming up with a fantastic story-line, fabulous action sequences, and hilarious punch dialogues. The reason for the film's stupendous success cannot be attributed to Rajni alone. It is the team work and a well-planned, cleverly crafted story that has done the trick.

Sivaji is a film that takes a dig at the black money market prevailing in India. The story revolves around an NRI, Sivaji, who returns to India from the US with a mission to educate the masses and provide free treatment to the poor and the needy. His sole aim in life is to run hospitals and provide education, to the poor and the needy. However, he runs into trouble as the existing corrupt system of bureaucrats and hand-in glove politicians turn his dreams to dust. His efforts are thwarted by the shrewd dhoti-clad business man, Adisheshan who feels insecure on hearing Sivaji's plans to provide free education and medical facilities. However, the must talked about project starts off after Sivaji bribes the authorities. Soon, he loses all the hard-earned money and the properties that he had amassed so far. The story is all about how Sivaji starts from the scratch and fights all the obstacles on his way to get his project back on track.

The Cast
There's hardly any scene in the movie sans Rajni. I don't think I need to write about his screen presence or acting prowess. The surprise package of the movie is Vivek, Sivaji's side-kick. The female lead, Shreya, has nothing to do except gyrate to the music. The charater Adi, played by actor Suman is fantastic. The character is cunning, shrewd, and lethal. Suman has done complete justice to the role.

The Music
A R Rahman fails to come up with a good music score this time. The music is disappointing though the picturisation is heart-warming and refreshing. The choreography is good and the costumes are unique and different.

Why should you watch Sivaji?
The star cast is terrific, the story line is awesome and the action scenes are well planned and executed. The first half of the movie is replete with humor and hilarious moments (the best being the one where Rajni tries to become fair and win over Shreya).

The Flipside
The movie is more or less in the genre of Shankar's earlier films like Nayak (Mudhalvan in tamil) and bears an uncanny resemblance in terms of treatment. However, the songs in Nayak were much better than in Sivaji.

To conclude, Sivaji is much better than the run-of-the mill films being churned out by Bollywood. It was a refreshing change to watch a good movie after a very long time.....