Rajapattai Movie Review: A Hero’s Forte!

Posted at December 24th, 2011 under Featured, Movie Review, Review | Comments

Why does a director, who has gained adequate reputation, condescend to experiment in the commercial format? PVP Cinemas’ Rajapattai, directed by Suseendhiran, attempts to ride high on combinations. A big, muscular hunk who does not do enough squats (probably, he cannot due to his once fatal accident) and looks lanky, a walking heroine and a few politicos with their own agenda. The politicians fight over a Rs. 300 crore asset and an orphanage owned by K Viswanath.

The veteran director plays a rich old man with a politically motivated corrupt son who has political affiliations. He covets the orphanage and conspires to kill his own father. Vikram, a gym boy and an extra in the movies, wants to make it big. He saves K Viswanath and accommodates him. K Viswanath happens to suspect that Vikram too wants his money.

As he leaves him, Viswanath’s son gets hold of the orphanage and destructs the building. The land is then grabbed by a female Politician named Akka who resembles either of the two famous politicians of Tamil Nadu. The Politicians conspire against each other and some stranger from the crowd kills the female politician as revenge.

Do directors need to undergo screenwriting classes or do they simply ignore that painstaking aspect of filmmaking? How do actors select stories? A reputed director, a ready-to-incur-loss producer, a sizzling model as heroine and a top music director? Though this is supposed to fool the audience, a crass film cannot be made on the pretext of a commercial film.

Filmmakers expect audiences to suffer dementia the moment a director and actor say, “Commercial”. Some audiences also religiously follow suit. They tend to switch off their tendency to care about their intellect. Filmmakers take advantage and make money out of nothing. It’s too hard to grope for good points and to mention what’s simply not there. The second half gets very predictable while the first half is clichéd.

If to bash some more, we can mention the scenes in which Vikram interrogates the villain by appearing in different make-ups as CBI officer. Is an accused interrogated by a CBI Officer from every State? Vikram appears as a Tamilian, Malayali and Sardarji. What does it prove? The acting prowess of an actor less utilized for good purpose? It is ironic that why we still find Vikram short of a great actor even after so many of his experiments. Is it because of his choice?

A villain – staged as ruthless – eventually ends up as a clown, as Vikram takes several avatars as a CBI Officer. The marketing strategy of different get ups is also counter-productive. Vikram’s and Viswanath’s relationship is not established well that you do not empathize with Vikram, when the latter suspects him. Why does Vikram dance to announce the interval with a silly dialogue that makes no sense? The all-Muslim-henchmen, portrayed as blood thirsty, is also crass, which any other director, showing social responsibility, would avoid, to not create friction between religions.

Deeksha Seth finds little screen space. Vikram’s friends are quite generic, though they bring some laughter in the first half. Editing is nothing to comment on while cinematography has helped the stunts. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s songs are bland and boring which immediately pushes you off your seat. Released when no other film is around, before a biggie as Nanban, the timing of the release of Rajapattai, without much hype, shows that distributors were aware of the film’s fate at the box office! Rajapattai – (Vikram’s) Manja Sattai!

Positives

Pity, we come across this column!

Negatives

The decision to make this film

Verdict

None, whatsoever!

Rating: