Robot: Two Thhrrrrrrrilllling…Rajini Saar!
By MovieTalkies.com, 02 October 2010
3.5 / 5
The 'Boss' is finally here. Rajinikanth, the mega superstar, has nothing left to prove. Age cannot dim his charisma, and if the audience response to his appearance on screen is any indication, then Rajini remains the Boss still. Shankar's 'Robot' sees Rajini in full form and turn in a spirited performance, doing all that he is wont to do, and even better. Labelled as being one of the most expensive films made in India ever, 'Robot' proves to be wonderfully entertaining and has enough thrills packed to make it a really enthralling experience. This is a movie which is really worth every dime for the audience. This is 'paisa vasool'!
Hindi filmgoers have just seen a real 'masala' fare in 'Dabangg'. But Shankar's 'Robot' really takes the cake. It has about just the right mix of emotion, drama, conflict, song and dance routine, fantastic special effects and, of course, Rajni. And of course, there is not just one Rajni, but two of them in the movie, creating even more moments for packing in some really thrilling action.
Incidentally, the film is not just about Rajni style gags but Shankar manages to weave in an extremely interesting story as well around the mega star. The film's story is basically about Vashikaran (Rajni), a scientist, who is working on creating a robot with human qualities. Totally absorbed in his work, he naturally neglects his love life and his girlfriend, Sana (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan). Vashi is successful in finally creating a super powerful robot, Chitti, who is a robotic version of himself.
Things start going wrong when Vashi and his boss, played by Danny Denzongpa, differ on how they want to use Chitti. While Vashi wants to give Chitti to the army, his boss wants to sell him to some foreigners, who want to use the powerful robot for their various illegal activities, including terrorism. In the meanwhile, Chitti is loaned to Sana to help her fight goons at the widow's home she runs. Chitti passes the test with flying colours. In a fantastic sequence, he rescues Sana from a running train. The stunts and the special effects are just mind boggling.
The story goes forward when Vashi injects human feelings into Chitti at the behest of his boss and result is quite disastrous as the robot falls in love with Sana, hereby setting up a conflict with Vashi, his creator. Goaded on by the boss, Chitti abducts Sana and the stage is set for a fight to the finish between the creator and the creation, between Vashi and Chitti.
Shankar packs the film with all kinds of gags as well, as the robot has this entire dialogue with a mosquito. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to say that the robot is a mix of all the comic book superheroes that one has ever seen on screen. He can replicate himself and has the capacity to destroy an entire army! The best thing about the movie is that it is not just special effects, but it also deals in human emotions, making it a movie which provides holistic entertainment, albeit in a very Southern style.
With Rajni getting to play both the robot as well as the scientist, the possibilities are endless and provide enough fodder to keep Rajni's legion of fans in state of ecstasy. The robot is able to become an Anaconda, shoot from his fingers and many more such unbelievable action which just have to be seen. The final climax is quite something else with a hundred Rajnikanths fighting!
Shankar works with a tight and fast moving screenplay, making this an express experience which just has to be savoured, especially the last half hour of the movie. One just feels that the movie gets a little too long and could have easily been trimmed slightly. The songs prove to be just one too many. Of course, this is not to take away from the fact that Shankar uses the most picturesque of locations to film the numbers.
The music has been composed by A.R. Rahman but the numbers seem to lack the kind of punch that one is used to expecting from him. The fight sequences have been extremely well orchestrated by Yuen Woo Ping, while the special effects have been created by the Stan Winston studio, the very same studio which was behind the special effects in films like 'Jurassic Park', 'Terminator' and 'Avatar'. Technically, the film could not have been sounder. The film has been wonderfully shot as well, especially the exotic foreign locales of Peru, Brazil and Austria.
Where the acting honours are concerned, even though all the main actors like Ash and Danny turn in competent performances, 'Robot' is, at the end of the day, Rajni's movie. He is just all over and does everything with his usual élan and charm and is in top form.
Finally, the film also manages to make a statement about a futuristic clash between man and machine, an age which does not seem too far away. But yes, in the final analysis, 'Robot' may be a little over the top, but it is also pure, unadulterated entertainment.
Go, grab your blast.