sivaji - the boss

whatever it is that he has i want 10% of it. i don’t think i can handle more. the charisma would destroy me. only he can handle so much- and with such flair. nothing seems to faze him, nothing seems ridiculous or silly. even when he wears blonde wigs and dances around a greatest hits of recent european starchitecture (cant think of a better foreground to gehry, calatrava or moneo than this), or when he goes bald and does amazing things with his sunglasses, or that entire sequence with the fairness cream, the clothes never ever come close to wearing the man. its no wonder that he is superstar rajni. this is real style. not the insipid half hearted designer lite of a amitabh bachchan. rajni is truly sexy.

there is no spectacle too much for a film like this one. the story of a lone crusader against the corruption of the ‘system’ has rarely been done with such unabashed fun. the sets are spectacular, the fight sequences fantastic.

i had thought that i would enjoy the film in a camp sort of way, you know- that snobbish sort of way where laughter is mixed with a certain form of patronization. but i got involved with the story and i wanted to clap and whistle so many times. of course saurabh might be right when he says that i would not have perhaps been so easy to please if the film were in hindi because of its ‘good tamilian culture’ pandering or its one ugly girl joke. but it more than made up for its political incorrectness with the hilarious fair and lovely sequence and the anti-horoscope storyline. it was great to see an old fashioned masala film with a real movie star at its center after a very long time where the lead lady shies away draped in demure tradition until the music starts playing. suddenly she is transformed into the sexiest hip swayer in glass palaces and colonnades this side of the middle east.

and of course its more fun when all around you in the theater you have people who have seen the movie four times before and know every dialogue, repeat it loud before it comes on screen and go ‘cool’ with the man himself.