Sivaji—Second Time

I had been away from my blog for sometime again. But this time, I was not being lazy. Was really occupied with so many things, added to which I had a lot to write too, that I couldn’t put them all down without my brain (assuming I have one) not getting jammed. So had to take a short break before keying in my thoughts.

As said earlier, I did get to see Sivaji, and saw it twice I did. Yes, yes, and an emphatic yes. I did see it twice. Do I regret it? Nah, no way. I am too much a Rajni fan to regret it. Which actually means, I can enjoy any dabba movie churned out with Rajni in it on the TV, I did tolerate even Baba. Some of those dabba movies, even re-runs, but not Baba though. I cannot do that for any other actor. I can hear people saying I am being too biased… but what do I care. IMO, I think no other south Indian actor so much so, I could even say no other Indian actor has the charisma and screen presence that Rajni has.

Being a Rajni fan, enjoyed every bit of my experience of watching it for the first time, which was I think the 2 or the 3 show here in Dallas, and was thrilled watching it again with my dad last weekend. I was so excited when a re-run of the Tamil version came back very quickly (for they did do a re-run of the Telugu version earlier) and booked my tickets in advance for the 3 of us. (You can never take a chance with Rajni movie.) And man, I was right. Though it was screened in a smaller theater which could hold some 200 people, the hall was full. And there were still people, like who I think are watching it for at least their second time, like me and R.

OMG, it was still an exciting experience watching it for a second time. First of all, this was the second time, I see a Rajni movie within days of its release, with Chandramukhi being the first one but this is the first time I see it for a second time in a movie hall. It was very different kind of experience watching it with all those whistles and papers flying in the air. WOW. All my previous experiences of watching a Rajni movie was seeing it in a theatre in Madras, after some 2-3 months of it release, for only then, the crowd would have subsided. But being in Dallas, it felt okay to go for I know the crowd cannot get unruly for sure.

It really was an awesome experience. And as for my favorite song Adhiradee, it indeed was an adhiradee watching it on the big screen. But some how the first time when I watched the movie nothing got registered in me, except Rajni. Watching the movie the first time for me was more of watching Rajni on the big screen and hearing some jokes of Vivek. And nothing else. After being to the ARR concert, even now, when I think of Adhiradee song, I can visualize ARR in his white suit, doing a small jump on his heels yelling on top of his voice ‘Adhiradee Kaaran Machaan ga’. It really was euphoric. I still keep laughing over the way ARR was singing it. May be he was conscious of the crowd in front of him or what I cannot know, but it was like he was swaying to the music and the rhythm of the song in a very peculiar fashion. It was like he had these springs attached to the heel of his shoe or something and was getting a little lift from it. He kept repeating that particular action rhythmically for the whole song, and for any song that he sang for that matter. That’s the scene combined with his facial expressions that I can visualize when I hear the song. I still cannot remember the visuals of that song from the movie. It is ARR's picture that comes to my mind. There was this girl who was crooning to the female part of the lyrics and its her face I get when I listen to the songs even on the screen. Isn’t that funny?

Anyways, am not much of a movie fanatic, but would like not to miss any good ones. I am not a great fan of Shankar either. He keeps churning out the same stuff with very slight variations and keeps doing things in a grand scale and it sells. Otherwise I don’t see much in his movies. And the same holds good in this one too. There is absolutely no story. If you have seen one movie of Shankar, you can sort of guess the storyline for the rest of his movies. The object that can be projected grandly here for Shankar is Rajni and he has showcased it in all grandeur possible and Rajni is indeed awesome. It really is a treat for fans like me. Then you can imagine for the die-hard fans. And then there is Vivek. He is just brilliant. Guess this is the best of him that I have seen so far.

Actually when Shankar and Rajni teamed up and when I came to know that Rajni is an NRI from US, I was slightly worried for the way he can talk English. I did not want to spoil a Rajni movie watching experience because of yucky accent. Luckily, he talks less of English and what little he talks, he seems to have worked diligently on the accent. Added to that Shankar is not that great with his stories. So was a bit skeptical what if one of what could be Rajni’s last movie tanks. Luckily the whole team has helped us there and come up in giving us an experience that we never had before.

But whatever, it was joyous experience watching the movie the first time and the second time. Looks like I can still watch the movie again. Whatever, with no story nothing big like his old movies, Rajni can still evoke that Rajni charm and charisma and pull crowds. The movie is aptly named Sivaji, for its just Rajni, Rajni, Rajni all the way. One has to mention the ‘mottai’ Rajni. The walk he does coupled with his expression after getting down from the helicopter is absolutely fabulous.

An excellent treat for Rajni fans like me.