Cinema, Karam, Kapi

Most of you who’ve seen Petta can resonate with many of Superstar’s movies over the past 40 years. Some are quite obvious, some are hidden gems. Am listing my few favourites here. The film starts with Thalaivar uttering the first dialogue - “Naan Veezhven endru ninaithayo!”. I could immediately connect with the opening scene of Muthu where he wishes the best for everyone, breaks the coconut and just when the horses scream - “Oruvan Oruvan Mudalali” song begins. Am sure Karthik Subburaj had this inspiration as well. All the more for Petta, since Kabali and Kaala were not up to the expectations of his hardcore fans, so KS had to ensure not only he delivers a blockbuster but also make Thalaivar say this dialogue, which is also something he openly mentioned in the 150th day celebrations of Chandramukhi where he mentioned he is not an Elephant, rather a horse and would get up just like that. Whattay fanboy moment when the film begins! The sarcasm that Kaali, the hostel warde

This is the fourth time Actor Ajith Kumar and Director Siva come together for Viswasam - in Tamil, Viswasam means loyalty. We celebrate their loyalty to each other too with this film. In all their past outings, it’s the protagonist safeguarding his loved ones - In Veeram, it’s his fiancee's family; in Vedalam it’s his stepsister, in Vivegam, it’s his pregnant wife and in Viswasam, it’s his daughter. What I appreciate the most of Siva is his portrayal of Ajith in each outing. He knows the actor’s strengths at the back of his head and pins the screenplay accordingly. But for Vivegam which was more a hollywood-type attempt with too much of foreign locales, Russian mafia and gun fights which Ajith’s hardcore fans couldn’t relate to, all the other films did reasonably well during their release. Viswasam has had a fantastic opening in B & C Centres, thanks to a meticulously planned Pongal release which was announced six months back by Director Siva and Sathyajothi Films.

The first dialogue Superstar Rajinikanth utters in Petta is “Naan Veezhven enduru ninaithayo” after bludgeoning a few bad guys in his inimitable style. One cannot but remember the golden words of Neelambari “Vayasanalum un stylum azhagum  innum  pogale” - except that she actually said that 20 years back when Thalaivar was 49 years young. From this scene which is 4 minutes after the film reels on till the last scene - where Thalaivar ends with a pistol shot, its Superstar galore for over 150 minutes. Every fan who came out after watching the film has only one thing to say about Director Karthik Subburaj - “Only someone who has consumed Rajinikanth in every vein, muscle, blood and brain can create such a screenplay” - so true. KS has literally “Rajinified” the viewers with such a strong and gripping storyline which is a potpourri of Superstar’s antics for 40 years which most of his  ardent fans have enjoyed every bit and byte, literally . Kaali joins a convent in a hill sta