Sivaji!!!

I happened to watch "Sivaji" the first week it got released.(me watching it again last weekend is an another issue!!!).

The atmosphere in the theater was exactly what I had imagined it would be. Lots and lots of people shrieking, shouting and hooting made me feel nostalgic. (I don't think it would have made big a difference if I had watched the movie back home!!!). Lots of thanks for the people and fans who had assembled there and made the movie a wonderful, fun- filled experience for me.

The three hours that I was in the theater was easily one of the best times I had in a very long time. For me, Sivaji was a fully- packaged rajni movie. It was worth much more than the $20 that I paid to see it.

This movie differs from a typical Rajni movie (or any recent tamil movie for that matter) in a lot of ways. First and foremost, Rajni is not seen with a cigar in his mouth. So his typical cigarette styles that we see in all of his movies are missing. But in this movie, he instead uses bubble-gum as a substitute for cigarette for his stylish antics. Secondly, Rajni never utters any punch dialogue in this movie. The filmmakers have instead used vivek to deliver the punches. As dialogue writer Sujatha said in an interview, the filmmakers have maintained the dignity of Rajni by not making him say any punch dialogues, but at the same time they conveyed the message through vivek. Third, the songs in this movie are very different from the usual ones we see in any Rajni movie. They are stylishly shot and CGI has been used very extensively. Rajni had tried his best to look comfortable in song situations. I say, it definitely pays off. The songs look great and both Rajni and Shriya look awesome on screen.

Rajni never looked so good before. We are infact reminded of Rajni of “Billa”, “Polladhavan” times. Whenever he says “pera kettavudene chumma adirudhu illa”, whether or not villan gets shaken, we did. The way he flips the coin, the way he talks to Aadi, and the way he says “Ennaga Aadi ippadi pannitaanga” were all done in typical Rajni style (infact better than before!!). The “Mottai Rajni” was the real surprise element in the movie.

Shriya had done here part perfectly. She is an orthodox tamil girl whom Rajni likes and in this movie, it is Rajni who tries to woo her and not the other way around. In the song sequence, the filmmakers made her lose most of her wardrobe- she is more than happy to do it and we are more than happy to look at her in this way!!!

Vivek has been given a much bigger role than any other comedian would have got in any Rajni movie. His one- liners are witty. He is much more than a typical side- kick to a hero. He sure does make us laugh hard in the first half. There are times during the movie when we will wonder whether Rajni or Vivek is the hero in this movie.

I had waited for almost 2 years for the movie and it didn't disappoint me in any department. The songs were picturized so beautifully. It would definitely make ARR happy. Now we know why ARR delivers his best in Shankar's movies. The stunts were amazing, especially the climax fight was mind- boggling.

Shankar and ARR had taken lot of time and people criticized them for postponing the release date for a long time. But now we know why. Though the story reminds us of previous Shankar’s movies, it wont get any bigger or better than this. Shankar had tried to change every typical thing that we usually see in a Rajni movie and I think he succeeds in most.

Watch the movie just for Rajni and no one else!!!!