R ARIVANANTHAM
Superstar Rajinikanth in real life believes that all people are one irrespective of religion or caste and humanity is above all. In present-day India, some vested interests to get political mileage and perpetually remain in the saddle create wedge among the common men in the name of religion. They stoop too low even to the extent of using the game of gentlemen – cricket – to keep the pot of cauldron boiling.
Despite lacking good script and adept direction, the film conveys the good message of religious harmony which is need of the hour in the country.
- Director Aishwarya Rajinikanth deserves a pat for the story that has the backdrop of religious harmony
- She has to come out of Superstar’s shadow to prove her mettle and bring laurels to ‘Appa’ like Superstar brothers Surya and Karthik has been doing
- AR Rahman’s music is a value addition for the social drama with a message
Moideen Bhai (Rajinikanth), a businessman, goes to Mumbai from a village where Hindus and Muslims live as brothers and sisters. The Three Star team, started by Moideen bhai, was a winning team with both Rajini’s friend (Livingston) son Thirunavukarasu (Vishnu Vishal) and Samsuddin (Vikrant) playing, but those jealous of Thiru’s success and with ulterior motives push him out of the team. Thiru creates the rival MCC team and the two teams end up representing different religions (Hindus and Muslims) in the village.
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A conspiracy to topple Thiru leads to sectarian violence in the cricket world. Due to this, the village hates him, and the temple car festival is also interrupted due to the instigation of a local politician. Vishnu Vishal tries to thwart it and earn a good name in the village. The rest of the story of the film is what Rajini, who is a part of all these things, does to bring about religious harmony and unity.
Director Aishwarya Rajinikanth deserves a pat for the story that has the backdrop of religious harmony, which is needed at all times. She has perfectly depicted what politicians of all hues do to get people’s votes, how they blow up a matter. However, she has to come out of Superstar’s shadow to prove her mettle and bring laurels to ‘Appa’ like Superstar brothers Surya and Karthik has been doing.
Since the story takes place in 1993, it is a good strategy to use the events of that environment in the story. Rajini makes a special appearance throughout the film. The emphatically stated that the car festival in a village is a festival equivalent to a festival is salutary.
A minus for the film is the confusing and dragging screenplay, despite all feel-good features of a Rajini film. Confusion could not be avoided as to whether this is a cricket-related film or a festival film. Even the cricket scenes are tiring to move without any excitement. The scenes of Vikrant, who is playing in Ranji match, coming to play in the series in the village lacks credibility. Vishnu – Vikrant may have given strong reasons for conflict. Scenes like two teams representing different religions in a village cricket are the director’s wild imagination. A screenplay that alternates back and forth could have focused more on continuity.
Rajinikanth’s power-packed performance as Moideen bhai, a Muslim leader, on screen is the saving grace.
In one scene, for instance, Moideen bhai says, “India is for Indians and I am an Indian Muslim. I was born here and I will die here. This is my home. We should not talk about caste or religion but humanity, and humanity is above all. Jai Hind.”
AR Rahman’s music is a value addition for the social drama with a message.
Cast:
‘Superstar’ Rajinikanth
Vishnu Vishal
Vikranth
Kapil Dev(Cameo)
Jeevitha
Ananthika Sanilkumar
Senthil
K.S.Ravikumar
Livingston
Nirosha
Thambi Ramaiah
Adithya Menon
Vivek Prasanna
Dhanya balakrishna
Thangadurai
Crew:
Production : Lyca Productions
Producer : Subaskaran
Screenplay & Director : Aishwarya Rajinikanth
Music :’Isai Puyal’ A.R.Rahman
Cinematography : Vishnu Rangasamy
Editing : B.Pravin baaskar
Art Director : Ramu Thangaraj
Choreography : Dinesh
Stunt Director : ‘Anal’ Arasu, ‘Kickass’ Kaali, ‘Stunt’ Vicky
Lyrics : Yuga Bharathi, Snehan, Kabilan, Vivek, AR Rahman, Mashook Rahman
Story & Dialogue Writer : Vishnu Rangasamy
Costume Designer: Sathya NJ
Sound Designer : Prathap
Sound Mixing : S. Sivakumar (AM studios)
Stills : R.S. Raja
Publicity Designer : Kabilan Chelliah
Head of Lyca Productions : G.K.M. Tamil kumaran
Executive Producer : Subramanian Narayanan
PRO : Riaz.K.Ahmed
