Usually, period matters little in K.S. Ravikumar's work. He could have set Muthu, or Padaiyappa anytime in the past, or set Panchatantiram any time in the future, without missing a beat. Ramya Krishnan walking out of a posh car, in Padaiyappa is charmingly anachronistic. I mention this because, midway through Lingaa, you see Rajinikanth being introduced in a customary action sequence set in 1939 Tamilnadu. He is shown reading Joseph Campbell's, 'The Hero With A Thousand Faces', only to be revealed that he is a district collector serving in British Indian Government. Very appropriate, except that the book was first published ten years later in 1949. No, I am not trying to nitpick. The movie till this point was totally unengaging, that there was sufficient time to reach for the phone, search for Joseph Campbell (Thanks Sesha!) and have a quick laugh. Secondly, the makers could have easily chosen a title that is not in odds with the films timeline, but Lingaa is what you get when people who badly want to make a Rajini film are just too lazy to make it a good one. Lingaa is made with such uncharacteristic indifference, that it brings back memories of Baba, Kuruvi and post-Ramana Vijayakanth movies, every now and then.
It's sad to watch Rajinikanth reduce himself to a joke, as he labours through the dance moves in Mona Gasolina. As the film moves to the flashback, it at least seems to set up a somber period mood, but what follows is a mishmash of lazily written scenes. Rajini's performance as Lingeshwaran Sr is mostly consistent, but lacks his characteristic charm. That hurts when he is trying to portay the same honorable rich man cornered by circumstances.
You might wonder if Ravikumar is channeling is admiration for Rajinikanth through the two heroines, who can not stop wondering how awesome the hero is. Sonakshi Sinha's bumbling presence (counting thirty rendu, thirty moonu and all is somewhat funny only) is not helped by the fact that the actors who play her friend and mom (Ahem) manage to look better than her. After Iraandam Ulagam, the law of averages catches up with Anushka Shetty, who is cast in a character that would not have looked out of place in an Eastman color movie. Karunakaran is hilariously cut short in the middle of a dialogue, and that's his role in a nutshell. Santhanam walks away with the only good scene of the movie, as he calls out the Finishing Kumar. By then, it's too late.
What Padaiyappa and Muthu have, and Lingaa lacks is a powerful conflict between the hero and villian. We don't get to see set pieces like Radharavi's vintage car, menacingly drive into his sister's front yard or the simultaneous ascent/descent scene that plays between Rajinikanth and Ramya Krishnan through the curved staircases, and how Rahman's background score raised these excellent scenes to almost near perfection. Instead we get to see, the extent to which Sonakshi Sinha's back could be bared in a U-certificate movie. In the absence of a powerful adversary, Ravikumar unleashes an array of supporting characters; three when one would do, that they almost strangulate
the film. And with the British collector who mumbles in Tanglish, there is not much scope to portray any strong conflict
While Ravikumar's generally chaotic style works to add some flavour to his films, here it forces the movie on a clueless track. While the period part of Lingaa would independently qualifiy as a bad film by itself, Ravikumar encapsulates it with a contemporary story, that comes with its own brand of bad acting, poor staging and shoddy writing. And K Vishwanath, wearing stylish ear-rings provides the missing link! And I did not even tell you how the climax plays out with flying balloons, spy cameras and masquerading storage devices. Let's not even go there!
Bang, Bang, Bang: read here.
It's sad to watch Rajinikanth reduce himself to a joke, as he labours through the dance moves in Mona Gasolina. As the film moves to the flashback, it at least seems to set up a somber period mood, but what follows is a mishmash of lazily written scenes. Rajini's performance as Lingeshwaran Sr is mostly consistent, but lacks his characteristic charm. That hurts when he is trying to portay the same honorable rich man cornered by circumstances.
You might wonder if Ravikumar is channeling is admiration for Rajinikanth through the two heroines, who can not stop wondering how awesome the hero is. Sonakshi Sinha's bumbling presence (counting thirty rendu, thirty moonu and all is somewhat funny only) is not helped by the fact that the actors who play her friend and mom (Ahem) manage to look better than her. After Iraandam Ulagam, the law of averages catches up with Anushka Shetty, who is cast in a character that would not have looked out of place in an Eastman color movie. Karunakaran is hilariously cut short in the middle of a dialogue, and that's his role in a nutshell. Santhanam walks away with the only good scene of the movie, as he calls out the Finishing Kumar. By then, it's too late.
What Padaiyappa and Muthu have, and Lingaa lacks is a powerful conflict between the hero and villian. We don't get to see set pieces like Radharavi's vintage car, menacingly drive into his sister's front yard or the simultaneous ascent/descent scene that plays between Rajinikanth and Ramya Krishnan through the curved staircases, and how Rahman's background score raised these excellent scenes to almost near perfection. Instead we get to see, the extent to which Sonakshi Sinha's back could be bared in a U-certificate movie. In the absence of a powerful adversary, Ravikumar unleashes an array of supporting characters; three when one would do, that they almost strangulate
the film. And with the British collector who mumbles in Tanglish, there is not much scope to portray any strong conflict
While Ravikumar's generally chaotic style works to add some flavour to his films, here it forces the movie on a clueless track. While the period part of Lingaa would independently qualifiy as a bad film by itself, Ravikumar encapsulates it with a contemporary story, that comes with its own brand of bad acting, poor staging and shoddy writing. And K Vishwanath, wearing stylish ear-rings provides the missing link! And I did not even tell you how the climax plays out with flying balloons, spy cameras and masquerading storage devices. Let's not even go there!
Bang, Bang, Bang: read here.
Nicely written article though I geeky the period scenes we nor particular bad- atleast not bad as the rest. The Hut scene was good- rajni 's reply to the invitation to go back to the village brought back sweet memory's of his style and charisma.
ReplyDeleteForgive the typos :)
ReplyDeleteA scrupulous review and a good piece of literature. And I dont agree about your review of Sonakshi Sinha's appearance. She is always the glitter in the sky of stars for me !
ReplyDeletePraveen: Yes. Rajini delivered some of the lines brilliantly (Oru vela saapadalena onnum thappu illa, oru vela kooda saapada mudilana athaan thappu), but they existed pretty much in isolation.
ReplyDeleteSesha: As Simbu says in VTV, "Not that I was complaining", until I saw her mother!