At the cinema, the thambis are thronging the hall in tight jeans and colourful tees. Whistles rent the air and confetti is sprayed on Rajnikant’s latest avatar. For this is stress-busting time, a release from the banal and the real, as the latest spectacle from Tamil cinema, Sivaji: The Boss, unfurls its stale tale in a burst of drama, riot of colour, silly gags, outlandish costumes, gravity-defying action and special effects. The style is loud, its substance peripheral.
Such are the pyrotechnics that at 58, Rajnikant—purple lipstick, peach pancake, countless wigs and all—dishes out, reminiscent of his entertaining ’80s capers. This time he has teamed up with filmmaker Shankar, whose past hits have been obsessed with the theme of a lone crusader on a mission to set India’s social ills right. In Sivaji: The Boss (Ladies: Rajnikant’s real name is Sivaji and he’s still the boss of entertainment in Tamil Nadu, hence the loaded title) Shankar takes on the menace of black money in India and S: The Boss fixes it by cleansing the state of unaccounted cash and using it for building infrastructure, medical and educational facilities. Rajni would have us believe that he is bigger than the establishment, his violence is positive and his methods outmanoeuvre the villain. He takes all of three long hours, innumerable flashy costumes, songs, flaming rages and roars, even dying to be resuscitated in the final scene for the last bashing of the villain.
Yes, he looks weathered and wrinkled despite the air-brushing (fantastic cinematography by K.V. Anand), but Rajni’s style still rocks. He retains his effervescence, goofy humour and cheerful goodness, and due to criticism by Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss, he trades his cigarette for a blob of chewing gum to keep his jaws grinding wickedly. Rajni is a placebo. For the believer Sivaji is an extravaganza, a voyage into the absurd, the ludicrous and the funny. The doubter can give this a miss.
