Enthiran (2010)

Director: S. Shankar
Story: S. Shankar, Sujatha, Madhan Karky 
Cast: Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai, Danny Denzongpa
Music: A.R. Rahman
Time: 170 minutes
Bottom-line: In the end, a disappointment

Some called this a revolutionary film in Tamil, while others praised only the visual effects. I, for one, belong to the latter category. Shankar’s Enthiran is indeed brilliant in its technical aspects, but when it comes to the other aspects that make up the film, it is below average. The film stars Superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles, with Danny Denzongpa and Santhanam in the supporting roles. The film is sort of a mix of The Terminator, I, Robot along with the usual Indian drama elements.

Rajinikanth as Dr. Vaseegaran

Dr. Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth) is a scientist who makes robots. He makes a special android robot (which looks like himself), for commissioning into the Indian Army. Vaseegaran’s girlfriend, Sana (Rai) is unhappy with him because of he is ignoring her due to his work. After introducing the robot (which is named Chitti) to the public, Vaseegaran’s mentor, Dr. Bohra (Danny) becomes jealous, as he is also trying to create a similar android, but is failing in the task. Eventually Vaseegaran decides it is time to teach the concept of human emotions to Chitti, but soon, this idea works against him, as Chitti falls in love with Sana. This triggers a conflict between Vaseegaran and Chitti, and soon, Chitti begins using his powers in the wrong manner. Whether or not Vaseegaran is able to control Chitti and save everyone from destruction is what forms the rest of the story.

Rajinikanth as Chitti, the robot

When Avatar came out in 2009, it took the world by storm with its special effects. In Enthiran too, the visual effects are dazzling. Some fight scenes and the various structures the robots form together are exciting to watch. But, in my opinion, the effects are good, as far as Indian films are concerned. For the local public, the film was revolutionary in its technical aspects. For me, I find the visual effects in Terminator 2, which came about 20 years before this film, much better and advanced than the ones used in Enthiran. Yet, while watching this film, I admit I was stunned.

Aishwarya Rai as Sana

Now, other than this one thing, the rest of the film was a disappointment. The story was okay, with some irritating parts here and there. The scene where Chitti takes elaborate measures to catch a mosquito that bit Sana, and the scene where Vaseegaran and Sana meet to discuss about their love are boring, and the dialogues which are supposed to create comedy don’t work out well either. In the first half, it is mainly about how Vaseegaran tries to make Chitti mingle with the public. There is some comedy and lots of drama till the interval. In the second half, there is nothing but fights between robots and humans, and these scenes, except for the effects, were pretty boring. The song Kaadhal Anukkal was nice and Arima was good too, and the others were average. Yet, the score by Rahman was superb.

Danny Denzongpa as Dr. Bohra. His acting was okay: not good
not bad. 

Rajinikanth’s acting is excellent. He does well to act as both a normal human and a robot; he changes his voice and actions accordingly. Aishwarya Rai’s acting was, in one word, useless. Her character is important, but her acting was poor. Santhanam creates some comedy, though half his jokes are lame. His character, and the one of Vaseegaran’s other assistant, are somewhat unnecessary, except for one crucial dialogue that forms the basis of the entire film. The characters of Vaseegaran’s parents are not at all needed, and on that topic, if Shankar had cut many unnecessary scenes in the first and maybe few in the second half as well, the film could have easily been thirty minutes shorter.

To sum up, Shankar’s Enthiran is an entertainer all right, but disappointing in the end. You can watch the film only to see the visual effects, and of course, if you are a regular fan of Superstar (which I am not). The acting of Rajini is good, but that of others is poor. Some dialogues are memorable, others funny, and many are useless too. Yet, few dialogues from the film have become viral, especially Chitti’s “Robot” (said in a sort of stylish fashion). Most of the songs are average, but the choreography is good, as is the score. However, with its huge budget and star cast, I felt that the final result could have been better.

My Rating: 2.5/5