A mixture of matter and spirit
My going to Sivaji - the Rajni Kanth block buster, on the first day of its release, was as much a miracle as many a scene in the superb entertainer.
I am seeing a movie, amid an euphoric audience showering rose petals on the screen each time The Boss appears in a very important scene, and I should say I enjoyed every moment of it, like never before in the last few years.
Rajni Kanth has kept the spirituality of Baba hidden from the direct view of the excited audience. But in Sivaji, spirituality is encased, or rather showcased in a series of positive thinking, with matching scenes on the welfare of the country and how the four principles of Sama, Dana, Bedha and Danda is used to bring the wrong-doers to book.
It may be the same old story of good versus evil and that truth alone triumphs in the end. But it is a story well cooked and served with dollops of cream and frothy chocolate in a regal fare of grandiosity.
The message is subtle. It goes in the last dialogue of the film when he flings the leit motif one rupee coin which lands right on the villain's forehead (A one rupee coin is traditionally placed on the forehead of a dead body in these parts of the country) and says Sivaji, the Boss: "Even this you cannot take with you!"
Though the scenes may be truly far fetched and can happen only on the celluloid, the Director has constantly created a positive image of seeing the country develop. That fills the heart of not just the die-hard Rajni fanbut any ordinary viewer who gets energised by the enchanting scenes of faith in life and the ability to not be moved by the ups and downs, the travails and joys and how not forget to wink or share a quiet joke in the midst of a bloody fight too.
An enjoyable film indeed!
- Swahilya.
