ENTHIRAN – Man vs. Robot!!

Disclaimer – Though there have been a number of reviews already spreading across via the internet, this is my point of view (which coincides with many others) and my feeling about the movie.


A week down after the magnum opus Enthiran / Robot starring Rajnikanth, Aishwarya Rai Bachaan, and Danny Dezangopa has hit the screens, the world is looking onto Indian Cinema with awe. Indian Cinema until October 01st, 2010 was Bollywood alone but now eyes are looking beyond that to see the wonders. Enthiran, with its world class technicians, has put films till date to shame with its heights of vision of the director.


The movie on the whole revolves around Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajnikanth), Chitti, his creation, an android robot, versions 1.0 and 2.0 (again Rajnikanth himself) and Sana (Aishwarya Rai). A long time back we had seen Rajnikanth playing three different roles in the same movie – Moondru Mugam; and now after 2 decades, again the audience is blessed in seeing their much loved star donning 3 roles. Aishwarya Rai, as Sana, plays love interest of the scientist, has shared enough screen space compared to any other actress in a tamizh movie in the recent times.


About the Movie –
Dr. Vaseegaran, along with his two subordinates, is in the process of building up an android robot which he aspires to dedicate for the Indian Army; thus reducing the death rate at the borders. Before presenting the robot to the army and for inspection, Dr. Vaseegaran lets Chitti version 1.0 to live between normal people to know how it would utilize its built-in knowledge. Following is a series of fun where Chitti wins the heart of good with a touch of humor and amazing visuals.


But things don’t go as planned by Dr. Vaseegaran when he presents Chitti for approval with the officials. Dr. Bohra (Danny Dezangopa), Dr. Vaseegaran’s mentor, rejects Chitti on the note that a robot runs on commands and fails to understand human emotions which could infact be misused by anti-forces. Thus a new challenge is in front of Dr. Vaseegaran, where he teaches Chitti human emotions, values and importance of life. Meanwhile Dr. Bohra is also in the process of building a similar robot but for the evil forces; the main reason why he is keen in rejecting Chitti. Besides rejecting Chitti, Dr. Bohra plans on ripping apart the scientist and its creation. This becomes easier when Chitti starts feeling emotions and falls in love with Sana, who takes him to be a cute toy friend.


All hell breaks loose with the triangular love plot and a dejected Dr. Vaseegaran has no option but to destroy his dream, his years of hard work, Chitti the robot. As defined, energy cannot be destroyed but only transformed from one form to another; the power of Chitti lies unscathed waiting to be rescued. Alike all stories, the chance is well utilized by Dr. Bohra, who brings a broken (literally) Chitti to his lab and gives rise to a new face of the robot with evil (a red chip) installed, Chitti Version 2.0. And now enters the baddie, Chitti, who is revengeful and wants to get his love, Sana, by any means.


The last 30 minutes, the most talked about by one and all, is mesmerizing with Chitti V.2.0 creating an army of his own, who look alike, equipped with the best weapons stole from the force and conquers the Artificial Intelligence Research & Development Centre to build his fort. Evil never lives long, and so doesn’t Dr. Bohra, who is killed by Chitti V.2.0. The rest of the story or better said Visual Extravaganza is all about the fight between Man and Robot and how Dr. Vaseegaran gets back the control on Chitti and removes the evil (red chip) within it to save mankind.


The movie comes to an end with Chitti waving a goodbye just before dismantling him(it)self and feeling good in being a robot, the reason being, able to remove the evil from within; while a miserable Dr. Vaseegaran comments on the negative force in each individual. All bids bye to the future of robotics and artificial intelligence which is then used as article of exhibition in a science museum.


Above the Movie –
Till now it was the plot or in a sense the movie which was being discussed. Now being a more particular, the following are points which I loved and felt on Enthiran – the Robot.


 The plot was earlier shown in the movie I,Robot but not with so much of details or the love triangle.
 The character of Dr. Vaseegaran is wonderfully sketched as humane with no usual out of the earth style which the superstar normally pulls off in his movie.
 For a change, the styles are alive in the movie with the same or extra dose with Chitti. The best part is when the robots shape to form a huge monster (the kinds of machines seen in Transformer) and still has a style while leaning on the building.
 The baddie Chitti is all bad with a style seen long back been done by the star himself. The roaring laugh is an icing on the character. The only odd feeling was the Robot, Chitti V.2.0 moved more like a human and less like a robot.
 The songs are brilliantly composed and shot; hats off to the Mozart of Madras. The BGM requires a special mention which builds on to the tension and feel of each scene.
 Kilimanjaro song is a visual treat with the star shaking legs with his unbeatable style in each frame.
 The comic sequences were well scripted and did give a break from the tension of the movie. One sequence worth mentioning is when Dr. Vaseegaran and Chitti prepare to go for Sana’s birthday party.
 Not just the comic sequences but also the whole script was made fool proof with not much scope for doubts. Be it the sequences where Chitti V.1.0 fights with the so called youngsters or the training center in Chitti V.2.0’s fort.
 The sequence where Chitti helps in the birth of the new born though looks similar to the recent movie, 3 Idiots, has been done well or maybe better.
 Also the sequence where the baddie, Chitti V.2.0 transforms into different shapes has been pulled off with uttermost perfection that the creators of Transformers, Terminators, Batman has created a challenge to their own works.
 The idea of the song Arima Arima has been thought well but executed with less exactness compared to other scenes of the climax; but yes, the vision of the director is absolutely speechless.
 The main negative of the movie (what I felt) is the sequence where Chitti helps Sana in her exams and the shot where the mosquito asks sorry to Sana. But as said in history and present, all is fair in Love and War.


The back-bone of Enthiran – Sun Pictures!


 Producing a movie is not only about the factor – Money, but a lot more.
 Sun pictures accidently or intentionally, is the right vehicle for the magnum opus Enthiran with its roots in the media industry and the credibility among the classes and masses.
 No one besides Sun pictures could devise such a prefect plan for promotion for a movie like Enthiran with its different carriers of advertising.
The movie is a perfect combination of all factors, importantly, story – music – directorial – casting.


In a simpler sense it’s a Shankar movie with actor Rajnikanth unlike the team’s earlier venture Shivaji (2007) which was a Rajnikanth movie directed by Shankar.


One word – the star has shed his larger than life image for the human role but kept it strong and alive for the title role – Enthiran!