Director Shankar, who has made it a point to highlight social issues in his films like Gentleman, Mudhalvan, and Anniyan, has done it yet again with Sivaji, except that I think he has taken it a bit far in this venture.. watch it and you will know what I am talking about… here is a little bit from my experience… 🙂 We had been wanting to see the movie but were waiting for my 
uncle’s to land from various parts of the world and then well, we couldn’t get tickets.. wedding happened and then yippee, we got tickets.. booked em online @ Satyam and made our way to the theater that rainy evening.. it was a night show, so not much of traffic and luckily we got to park right in front of the theater.. Crawled inside and got into the theater to discover our seats were abt 5rows from the screen, Oh,well, cant complain.. we atleast had loads of leg space… lol.. Because of rains and some last min hitches, movie started only around 10.45 as against the scheduled time of 10.15.. And from then on till the final titles it was fun, some scenes were really cool(oh,that’s THE WORD in the movie btw) and some were like “Oh,Gosh,why oh why do Indian movie makers do this copy paste”…. But the sets, costumes, special effects had us all in awe, gaping at the screen… Looks like 85cr really did go into making the movie… In this movie, Sankar, he highlights the perils of black money and corruption.Rajni on his part has done a good job and no matter what, you will be awestruck by the sheer lavishness in the movie… A rich NRI from America, Sivaji(Rajnikant) lands in India with a mission to accomplish. He wants to do something good for the downtrodden and the poor. His dream projects: a university and a hospital to benefit the poor, free service for all . Principle partner in the venture is his own uncle (Vivek at his all time best, his role is almost on par with Rajni). Of course, the project has the blessings of Sivaji’s parents, played by Manivannan and Vadivukkarasi. In comes the villain, Adiseshan (Suman),who pulls out all the stops to ruin Sivaji’s plans. In desperation, Sivaji goes to the extent of selling his property so he can pay the bribes demanded by all just to realise his projects. But Adiseshan succeeds in making Sivaji a pauper. So powerful is he that he even changes the Government to stop Sivaji(unbelievable scenes). The defining moment of the film is the scene where Adi tosses a one-rupee coin to Sivaji and asks him to beg on the streets and how Rajni uses that coin to turn the table about.(This scene is not to be missed )
In between all this,Sivaji falls in love with Tamilselvi( demure Shriya) They get married ignoring the prediction by the astrologer than harm would come to Sivaji if Selvi marries him. The way Sivaji goes abt to get the consent of Tamilselvi’s parents is filled with humour and imagination. And their neighbour who keeps coming forth saying “if not here,then come to my house, I have 2daughters, mingle with them, if you don’t like them,we can remain friends”.. hilarious… J First half of the movie Adi manages to keep pace with the larger-than-life screen persona of Rajni but in the second half, Rajni dominates. Then, it is Rajnikant all the way, right down to plotting his own death to being reborn… Music by A R Rahman, as always grows on you… The introductory song in Rajni movie always is the most peppy and lively number, here too the song “Ballelakka”, sung by SP Balasubramaniam and Rahman’s sister Raihana has us tapping our feet and enjoying the beats…The other numbers are not so bad, keep listening to em and you’ll enjoy em eventually… The movie finally ended around 1.30, we got back home, did a bit of hashing of the movie and then called it a night.. A movie so grand and flamboyant that it gets us thinking “is this a tamil movie”… Watch it and freak out…
i am scared of horror movies Aarti.
i don’t have the strength and the courage to watch our friend. i am afraid i might collapse in the theatre.
2 friends got married. not seperately, i meens they got married to each other. one boy one girl. You know boy marries a girl.
Both of them are in Boosland now. idiots. The wedding was in raghava mandapam, owned by our friend i am told. there were about 1000 guests including me. i was taking pictures. Wedding going on full swing. Fire burning All chanting matrams ….Suddenly i saw the entire crowd rushing to the balcony. i thought the balcony would collapse. What happened ?
Rajnikant has come. Oweee.
Now you are not going to believe this. i was with the bride and groom. all the pujaris, abandoned the wedding, chanting of mantras, they too rushed to the balcony.
Now the bride and the groom left alone were gaping at me as if i was responsible for this interruption. My friends hold me responsible for everything.
Very well written review, Aarti. This is however, a Rajini movie and I HAVE to rave about Rajini.
Sivaji – The Boss IS an awesome movie – oodles of Rajini and more. His best movie till date is Baba, though not appreciated at the box office since it was not typical Rajini – it had loads of ishtyle and the usual Rajii dialogues, but it also had dollops of spirituality and philosophy – not something that one walks into a Rajini movie for. And so it bombed. Otherwise, his best movie is Padayappa – en vali thani vali – a movie in which Rajini shone and was almost overshadowed by Ramya Krishna by her super portrayal of a woman infatuated.
I believe Rajini is at his best in intense sequences with villains (the lack of sizzle in romance and mushy sequences may actually be attributed to his modesty with heroines) and Sivaji is no different. His clashes with Adiseshan are some of the best in the movie, particularly the key scene in which Adi tosses a one rupee coin at Sivaji, as you have rightly pointed out.
Though I was a bit disappointed with the first half of the movie – which is actually un-Rajini with sparse one-lineres (more of which came from Vivek), too many fantasy song sequences and Rajini trying to act stupid in his efforts to woo Tamilchelvi. Why the cultured and demure dhavani clad Tamilchelvi metamorphoses into a provocatively attired seductress in his fantasises is as much of a mystery as Rajini’s gravity defying stunts. But then, this is a Rajini movie and these antics actually add to the experience that is Rajini.
The technical quality of the movie is mind boggling too – it made me wonder whether this really was a Tamil movie! The cinematography, editing (ignore some bloopers) and editing were very good. The background score is ok, a bit too loud at times, though I personally think that A. R. Rahman failed to capture the ‘Raini spirit’ in the songs. The costumes thought, were surprisingly disappointing, particularly in the songs in the first half. There is a clear northie influence – something that doesn’t suit Rajini. No – I am not talking about gaudy costumes – Rajini has a knack of pulling off even the gaudiest of costumes as if he were born in them. The best costumes in the movie (and the make up as well) is when Sivaji (i.e.,Rajini) re-emerges from his death as M.G.R. (M. G. Ravichandran!); the shaven head look and the macho costuming suit the role (and Rajini) to a tee!
The second half – after Rajini becomes a pauper – redeemed the movie and vindicated my raving for Rajini – it is quintessential Rajini. Superb one liners, larger than life screen screen presence, loads of Rajini style, unbelievable stunts (YESSS!) and the typical Rajini riches to rags to riches story (there are two cycles of this in the movie), which by all counts should by now be staid and expected, but no! This is a Rajini movie and the same basic storyline is repackaged and how! Extremely entertaining, stylish and fun! In all, an afternoon well spent watching another fantastic Rajini movie! Hope they release the next one soon!