of
the men associated with this mega venture. No doubt,
all of you will now have the list of names involved
in Endhiran by heart. But, really, it is hard for
one to resist the temptation to roll out those names
once again. After all, it is only rarely that there
is a chance to dwell on these names at length, especially
in connection with the same movie. So, here they are;
Superstar, Shankar, Rahman, Kalanithi Maran, Aishwarya
Rai Bachchan and many more names that you will be
hearing of in the next month or so. If anyone says
that a bigger team than this exists in Indian cinema
at present, then seriously, he’s got to be kidding.
Because (pardon the cliché) ‘it does
not get bigger than this’.
Sun Pictures started its promotional activities yesterday
with the release of the trailer through TV. But, it
has not reached its full fledged stage yet and that
is why most of you might not have got a chance to
get the first feel of what is in store. Well, don’t
get upset because you can always scramble to Youtube
to get your fill of Superstar and we too are here
to provide you with every small detail that the biggest
Indian movie ever divulges as it treads along towards
D day. So, here goes the trailer review of Endhiran
– The Robot. It is only rarely that a film becomes
so huge that even its trailer demands or deserves
a review. This is one such occasion and we hope that
there are many more in future.
Now, the review. Well, what do you expect from a Shankar
film? One word – grandeur. One look at Endhiran’s
trailer and you will know that Shankar has gone many
levels above all that he has done till now. If you
thought that Sivaji was the pinnacle of ebullience,
then you have to see the Endhiran trailer to believe
that it was not. Such seems to be the scale of the
film. But, we will have to wait to see the entire
product to know exactly how and where the 150+ crores
were spent. The one thing that the trailer definitely
tells us is that much of that has definitely gone
into visual effects. What we will get to see in the
movie seems to be special effects and computer graphics
that have never before been envisaged. There have
been some good CG applications in Indian cinema over
the years, like what we saw in Sarvvam last year.
But, Endhiran is in a different league altogether.
If you want to compare the standards of graphics that
seem to be present in the movie, then it is films
like Terminator and Matrix that you have to look at.
The story of Endhiran is definitely one that has never
been tried in Indian cinema before because of the
sheer technological expertise and costs that it would
necessitate. Tamil cinema will be certainly proud
that one of its directors has taken this step that
would expedite the evolution of Indian cinema to the
next level. But, for those who regularly watch English
films, the plot might sound a tad familiar; but we
are just guessing at this point of time. From what
the trailer offers, it is all about Rajinikanth (the
scientist) who constructs the world’s most powerful
robot (again Rajinikanth), something that even Honda
could not do, which can do almost everything that
a human being can, in a much better way. But, what
happens when the robot forgets the rules that were
laid down by Issac Asimov to be followed by all robots
and humanoids (so faithfully done by Arnold Schwarzenegger
throughout the Terminator franchise); all mayhem is
set loose as the uncontrollable robot runs riot. Who
can stop him? This is our guess of the plot.
Most English movies choose New York as the stage for
all big disasters and monsters to attack. The big
city has been used for its instant familiarity all
over the world and also perhaps for its suspension
bridges and proximity to water bodies which make excellent
settings for heart stopping action. Well, Shankar
seems to have taken up Chennai as the stage for Robot
to strike and from the few fleeting glimpses we think
that some of the major landmarks in the city might
feature as backdrops of action sequences. We are quite
certain about some action atop the Guindy flyover.
The only regret is that the colossal ‘Secretariat’
structure could not be ready in time for Shankar to
think of a pulsating action sequence involving the
structure. There also seem to be some absolutely delightful
and colorful sets (in metallic theme, apt for Robots)
that have been constructed by Sabu Cyril.
The action, the visual effects, the art; all this
makes the film big. But, what makes it huge? What
gives a producer enough confidence to say yes to a
budget of 150 crores? There is only one answer –
Superstar. You have to see it to believe it. Never
has he looked as young as this in the recallable past.
Never has he looked as dashing and stylish as he does
now. As wine gets better with age, Superstar’s
style only seems to get better every time he appears
on screen. There seem to be dozens of get ups and
styles that he has donned in the movie; especially
for the Robot character. Are they all good? What a
question! The only real question is which one of them
is best. All Superstar fans (we guess that everyone
is), get ready for an absolute treat. There is no
doubt; he is still the undisputed King of style. And,
in the, midst of all the excitement one forgets that
this is the first movie in more than 25 years that
will have two Superstars on screen at the same time.
Do we need a bigger reason to celebrate?
There seems to be no end to what one can talk about
this movie, just after watching a one minute trailer.
Yes, we have not yet talked about Rahman or Aishwarya
Rai Bachchan and a lot of other things. But, one guesses
that the next month or so will be there just for that
and much more. So, go watch the trailer as soon as
you can, get the first feel of the biggest Indian
movie ever (bet you, this one is international in
its standards) and keep coming back because the countdown
has begun and you don’t want to miss any of
the action. Endhiran – The Robot will soon take
you by storm.
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