En Iniya Endhira!!

There is a brilliant scene in "Endhiran" where the scientist Vaseegaran is confronted by a sickle-donning Pachaimuthu and Vaseegaran backs away utterly afraid of the weapon.Instead of a typical fight sequence,Vaseegaran throws sand in Pachaimuthu's eyes and runs away.To show the superstar of Tamil cinema shrieking seeing a sickle requires guts of the highest order.But "gutsy" is an adjective that defines Shankar.

What I liked in Endhiran:

1.I do not remember the last time Rajinikanth had no "Balailaka Salethuka" like intro song.To do away with the Rajini Intro Song simply because the script does not need it is "India Thiraipadangalil Mudhal Murayaga" stuff.

2.Visual effects.Indian Cinema has seen nothing like this.The electric train scene and the climax sequence where Chitti is all over the screen are examples.

3.Rajinikanth.Master performer,as always.The black sheep scene is a fantastic example.

What I hated in "Endhiran":

1.The villain professor.A senior professor jealous of his ever-achieving student as a villain for a Rajini movie?Does not work at all.

2.The Ranguski mosquito scene.Just to inform us that Chitti can understand what mosquito talks,Shankar wastes 5 precious minutes.

3.The lead scenes to both "Kilimanjaro" and "Kadhal Anukkal" are tasteless.How long will we have to bear Shankar testing a lover's possessiveness?(Remember "Boys")

4.All songs have been picturised pathetically.Choosing a location in Machu Pichu or building lavish sets in multicolours does not convert into a greatly picturised song.The BGM score is annoyingly loud at times.

Overall,Endhiran feels like a 10000-wala cracker which grabs everyone's attention while on fire and leaves uncared-for rubbish once it is done.

P.S:Sujatha's death has had a definite impact.He would have streamlined the narration more effectively.The Sujatha touches are evident in many places("Nattakurichi" raagam,A mosquito named Ranguski,The scene where Chitti is asked "Kadavul irukara?")

It is almost certain that without Sujatha's support,a movie like"Endhiran" would have been impossible.So,I was stunned to see that there was no special tribute to Sujatha in the beginning of the film.This is what you call "Dhrogam".But in a movie which emphasises machines without emotions,we should not be surprised.