"Sivaji - The Boss" - Review

Sivaji - The Boss

At the outset, this was probably the most publicity any movie has received yet. What with NDTV telling this was the biggest movie ever, and economic times giving the analysis of profits and a comparison of all of Shankar's movies. Suffices to say that my expectations were really high. I approached for the tickets on the 13th expecting to be able to see the movie on Sunday only. Surprisingly, I go tickets for the coveted first-day-first-show; that too on the second row from the back. Yippeee!!! I woohoo-ed and danced a jig outside the ticket station. The general public rushed to call the asylum, fearing the worst.

On the day of the movie (today 4 hours before right now), the line outside the ticket stands was a mile-long. The theater was packed. Although the intro scene was more mellow than I expected, it had all of us out of our seats screaming and whistling. Apart from a few scenes, the audience was quiet and listened to every line of the movie.

The first half of the movie was a real drag, with comedy scenes being the only reprieve. The first half ends with a lot of expectation. And shankar delivers in the second half. So does Rajini. It is hard to believe that the guy is a grandfather. He dons his "thambikku entha ooru" look in the first half and the "baasha" look in the second half - well, at least most of the second half.

The worst thing in the movie is without a doubt, Shreya. She comes fully clothed in all the scenes and scantily clothed in the song sequences. She desperately tries to display some form of emotion in a couple of scenes, but falls on her face. The second worse thing would have to be the screenplay. They will have to know when to put in songs. Songs creeping up throughout the time in the movie results in the screenplay taking a severe beating and slows down the pace of the movie (the all important pace of any rajni movie) to a crawl.

All in all, the movie is definitely above average - much better than Baba, but nowhere near baasha, arunachalam, padayappa, etc. It has all the key elements - a villain, a cause, concerned parents, bumbling love interest and a comedian. As can be expected from a shankar movie, the songs and fight sequences were a bit over dramatic.