Bring out those Rajnikanth jokes! All of us have at some point or the other joked about his superhuman powers, but 'Enthiran - The Robot' actually gives Rajnikanth a reasoning to exercise them to full fore. He's not human here (well one of the them isn't) but a robot so well equipped for every situation that it'll give the Terminators and Robocops of the world a serious inferiority complex. Roller skates pop out of boots, eyes turn to screen projectors & x-ray vision & the ultimate Rajnikanth style weapon has to be a gun that is enclosed in his fingers. So he can literally shoot you dead by mimicking a gun by his palm. So keeping aside all his histrionics, how does the movie fare? Not so well I'm afraid.
Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajnikanth) has been working on a humanoid robot for years together. Hes been so engrossed in his work that he has no time for his girlfriend Sana (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) nor to shave his beard or get a haircut. He does finally succeed in creating a robot in his own likeness, which his mother christens Chitti. Vaseegaran's plan behind creating Chitti is to be able to contribute a highly intelligent replacement for humans in hazardous jobs like the army. With all his superhuman efficiency Chitti lacks the basic human ability to rationalize a situation which results in his rejection by Professor Bohra (Danny Denzongpa) for use by the government. Vaseegaran sets about trying to implant emotions in Chitti but when he does succeed things do not go as planned that results in Vaseegaran facing problems on both professional and more so personal fronts. Things of course get resolved to suit everyone's needs and apparently even that of humanity.
The plot shows signs of intelligence early on and with some poignant themes about the relationship between the creation and the creator explored briefly, I was pleasantly surprised till the interval. Post intermission however, things nose-dive with emphasis on tacky pseudo Sci-Fi environments, events, nonsensical technological mumbo-jumbo and perhaps one of the longest & most contrived climaxes that begs for a smarter editor. Post the action packed climax there is a quieter scene in Vaseegaran's laboratory that makes it obvious to the audience that its time to bring out the handkerchiefs and weep till you flood the theaters. However thanks to the insipid second half whatever little bond you had with Chitti is lost and you'd more likely stifle a yawn than shed a tear.
The action sequences contain much of the same stunts Rajnikanth usually performs and the exact same kind of car chases that litter a thousand Indian movies every year. Other than an early fight sequence aboard a train, most scenes lack panache and seem very plain and workmanlike. The VFX work though excellent by Indian standards still fails to match most international benchmarks, but looks like we are slowly but surely getting somewhere.
The songs should get mention for turning out to be such damp squibs inspite of the efforts of A.R. Rahman. The lyrics make references to Newton, Issac Asimov & a ton of technical jargon related to circuits. The song that utilizes the picturesque Machu Pichu Mountains has insanely deep lyrics like, "Kilimanjaro, Mohenjadaro iss ladki ko dil mein utaro. Jungle, jungle pukaron yaaron yaaron."
Superstar Rajnikanth does fine in both the roles but there is a certain style associated with him that's sorely lacking here. Plus his evil avatar in the second half looks more like Mahesh Manjrekar than Rajnikanth and that is not a compliment. Aishwarya Rai has mastered the art of playing the token female lead and it wouldn't have mattered if any other heroine had played the role.
The movie holds promise in terms of its Sci-Fi plot & themes early on, but with its beating heart that of a masala flick firmly in place, it also has elements that undermine the intelligence to pander to wider audience and a presold fan-base. Some pretty good special effects and an opportunity to see Rajnikanth run riot with unlimited powers at his disposal should be more than enough reason to pull people into the theaters.view less
Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajnikanth) has been working on a humanoid robot for years together. Hes been so engrossed in his work that he has no time for his girlfriend Sana (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) nor to shave his beard or get a haircut. He does finally succeed in creating a robot in his own likeness, which his mother christens Chitti. Vaseegaran's plan behind creating Chitti is to be able to contribute a highly intelligent replacement for humans in hazardous jobs like the army. With all his superhuman efficiency Chitti lacks the basic human ability to rationalize a situation which results in his rejection by Professor Bohra (Danny Denzongpa) for use by the government. Vaseegaran sets about trying to implant emotions in Chitti but when he does succeed things do not go as planned that results in Vaseegaran facing problems on both professional and more so personal fronts. Things of course get resolved to suit everyone's needs and apparently even that of humanity.
The plot shows signs of intelligence early on and with some poignant themes about the relationship between the creation and the creator explored briefly, I was pleasantly surprised till the interval. Post intermission however, things nose-dive with emphasis on tacky pseudo Sci-Fi environments, events, nonsensical technological mumbo-jumbo and perhaps one of the longest & most contrived climaxes that begs for a smarter editor. Post the action packed climax there is a quieter scene in Vaseegaran's laboratory that makes it obvious to the audience that its time to bring out the handkerchiefs and weep till you flood the theaters. However thanks to the insipid second half whatever little bond you had with Chitti is lost and you'd more likely stifle a yawn than shed a tear.
The action sequences contain much of the same stunts Rajnikanth usually performs and the exact same kind of car chases that litter a thousand Indian movies every year. Other than an early fight sequence aboard a train, most scenes lack panache and seem very plain and workmanlike. The VFX work though excellent by Indian standards still fails to match most international benchmarks, but looks like we are slowly but surely getting somewhere.
The songs should get mention for turning out to be such damp squibs inspite of the efforts of A.R. Rahman. The lyrics make references to Newton, Issac Asimov & a ton of technical jargon related to circuits. The song that utilizes the picturesque Machu Pichu Mountains has insanely deep lyrics like, "Kilimanjaro, Mohenjadaro iss ladki ko dil mein utaro. Jungle, jungle pukaron yaaron yaaron."
Superstar Rajnikanth does fine in both the roles but there is a certain style associated with him that's sorely lacking here. Plus his evil avatar in the second half looks more like Mahesh Manjrekar than Rajnikanth and that is not a compliment. Aishwarya Rai has mastered the art of playing the token female lead and it wouldn't have mattered if any other heroine had played the role.
The movie holds promise in terms of its Sci-Fi plot & themes early on, but with its beating heart that of a masala flick firmly in place, it also has elements that undermine the intelligence to pander to wider audience and a presold fan-base. Some pretty good special effects and an opportunity to see Rajnikanth run riot with unlimited powers at his disposal should be more than enough reason to pull people into the theaters.view less
Share