My Take On "Endhiran the Robot"

I hardly ever see Tamil films and go to the theatre very rarely to catch one, Tamil or otherwise. The only exception is when a Rajni starrer comes to town, when the hype is built to a level bordering on mass hysteria and there is a fevered anticipation until D-day, the day the movie is released globally. To those of my international friends who may not know who Rajnikanth is - well, you just have to google him to find out his colossal stature in Tamil cinema, and now with Endhiran, in Indian cinema on the whole! His legions of rabid fans are legendary. To them, he is usually a demi-god to be worshipped, but in Endhiran, he becomes God the Creator Himself who creates the ultimate in Artificial Intelligence, Chitti the Robot!

I do not count myself a Rajni fan, nevertheless, I watch his movies because they guarantee rock solid entertainment, and also because I'm a little curious to see what the hype is all about. There is something compelling about this man, a charisma about his on-screen persona that transcends words and expectations. His unique style, his body language, his punch dialogues whip his fans into a frenzy, and woe betide the mere mortal who dares question the acting prowess of Rajnikanth! He clearly orbits the stratosphere in terms of fame and fortune, so tell me now, how could I miss a Rajni starrer, particularly when it is screened thousands of miles away from my homeland, here in beautiful British Columbia?!?

Endhiran did not fail to impress, and the 15 dollars spent on the ticket was well worth the 165 minutes of sheer entertainment it offered. The subject is something very new to Tamil/Indian cinema, and to see it having been shot on par with Hollywood shows that Indian cinema has come of age for sure. The stunning display of robotronics and spellbinding graphics is a visual treat in itself, an amalgamation of Terminator, Godzilla, and all those other superhero movies rolled into one. I am using Hollywood comparisons merely because they are the usual standards of comparison, but Endhiran is uniquely Indian, and any other future Indian sci-fi movie has a tough act to follow. Rajni truly rocks as Chitti the Robot and Vasi the Robotics Engineer who created him! He plays both with equal panache, the former with all his child-like innocence initially and as the vile monster he morphs into later on, and the latter as a genius engineer who outdoes his Professor in Robotics but lacks the heroism to stand up to a drunken hoodlum and runs away from him. Rajni somehow looks ageless, flawless, suave, debonair, fascinating and extra handsome in this movie, thanks to his makeup artists!


Man, how could Aishwarya Rai look so ravishing and sinfully gorgeous?!? She exudes charm in every frame and oozes sensuality in every dance move. She's HOT beyond words on the screen and leaves me wondering if Rajni could have any other heroine to match in the future. The cinematography is absolutely stunning, particularly the song sequences shot in the deserted splendour of Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes, and in the tantalizingly beautiful blue and green lagoons amidst the sand dunes of the Brazilian desert. The music of Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman is another hero in the movie, so to speak, and when the songs come on, one is mesmerized, trying to take in the beauty of the location, the magic of the music, the poetry of the lyrics, and the sensuousness and charm of the choreography, all at the same time. Oscar-winning sound engineer Rasul Pookkutty dominates throughout as well, I must add, and that adds to the heightened effect of a movie of this genre. The stunt scenes have a fire and spirited style to them that Rajni fans of all ages will find a treat.

Flaws there are, of course, as there will always be, to the discerning, critical eye. The scenes of Rangoski, the mosquito, despite the superiority in graphics, fail to add to the humour, and appear artificial and contrived. The same goes for the comedy of Sandhanam and Karunaas who are sadly outwitted by the humour of Chitti, the Robot himself. Their characterization seems abrupt and stunted, working as assistants in Dr. Vaseegaran's robotics lab, then switching sides to aid the villain in his nefarious deed, and then reapppearing in the last court scene of the movie with Rajni. The humanoid Chitti begging Vaseegaran not to kill him when the engineer hacks him to pieces and dumps him in the trash, yet being able to reassemble himself from under all that rubbish in the dumpyard is quite unbelievable. It is also not so plausible that the super intelligent Chitti would try to find out the human Rajni in the midst of all the android Rajnis by clanging a sword against their metal bodies or plunging it at random into them. Doesn't he have sophisticated sensors and scans that should help him identify a human being among the robots? The stunt scenes of death and destruction unleashed by the army of robots appeared a bit too long to my liking, despite all the computer-aided graphics and stunning technology. It's also not clear how the monstrous Chitti happens to get trapped in the hi-tech van so conveniently at the end for the engineer to comfortably deactivate the notorious red chip. The Judge at the end orders the robot to be dismantled, citing it as not suited for that day and age and the untold destruction it had the potential to cause, which makes it again an anachronism in the first place.

Overriding all the negatives are the positives, and needless to say, the movie is indeed a feather in the cap (excuse the oft-used cliche!) for its director, Shankar, and the producer, Kalanidhi Maran, and a remarkable milestone in Indian cinema! It leads the viewer on to a willing suspension of disbelief, and aren't movies supposed to do just that? In that sense alone, besides its many other plus points, Endiran the Robot rocks, for sure!!!