Honestly, I was among those who bashed this attempt few
months ago and am so ashamed now. The trailer released certainly didn’t make
any impression and I thought, oops. I chose X Men over Kochadayaan on the
release day and 3 days later, I went to Kochadayaan with still doubts. What
happened after that is another Rajni-effect : )
As a die hard Rajnikanth fan, the last thing I wanted was an
embarrassment after watching Kochadayaan. I must say, I was taken for a sheer
surprise. Here are my detailed analysis
The flip side:
The animation quality ofcourse, this is some thing even the
director would agree. The face of deepika, Sarath kumar etc., didn’t fit. Many
places the facial expressions just looked awkward. Mind you, this movie is not
done in 7 years with a Spielberg (Avatar) with a Himalayan budget. This is just
a 1.5 year project made by a debutant director, a fresh concept to Indian
cinema and above all just 125 crore movie. With the above constraints, the
animation flaw should be anticipated.
I also felt there were too many songs for an animation film.
Now, the glorious
part:
Nagesh resurrected – I was always a big fan of Nagesh and
his body language. The astonishing part of Kochadayan is the re-creation of the
legend himself with close to perfect body language and dialogue delivery. Its
sad that he appears only for handful scenes but that’s the apt salt needed for
the recipie. I loved every frame of his presence.
Stunts – Wahh finally I saw a tamil film with the stunts I only
saw in Hollywood or chineese or thai movies. The best was the fight sequence in
the ship between kochadayaan and the enemy soldiers.
Editing – Antony just proved his mettle with the right cuts
specially during the stunt sequences
Dance – The kochadayan dance and Deepika’s dance both looked
just so real
SFX – This is a special mention. Pookutty is no joke. He
bent his back and worked real hard to give the sounds needed.
Screenplay – To me, this is one of best screenplays of KS
Ravikumar. I am not a big fan of him but I seriously liked this
story-screenplay. In a way, this saved the movie too to a large extent.
Dialogues – Many many dialogues, punches tailor made for
thalaivar. Wahh, its absolutely sensational to hear ‘Ethirigalai olikka neraya
vazhigal undu.. Mudhal vazhi, MANNIPPU’
Rajnikanth’s voice – This is ultimate backbone, when he did
little physically, his voice made sure we all felt the real presence.
A R Rehman – He is the real hero of Kochadayaan. The BGM in
every frame is astoundingly beautiful and left speechless in many places.
Naturally, there are quiet a lots of positives about
Kochadayaan that I must say definitely worth your money. After seeing craps
like Maan Karate, All in All Azhaguraja etc., I still feel so proud of
brilliant, daring products like Kochadayaan which was never attempted before in
India. I can stay safe criticizing the quality blab la bla like other IT guys
to show up I belong to those AVATAR watchers club but this is something we all
should support and proud of.
Some specific scenes that made me go WOWWW
- Rajnikanths style of drawing sword. Toss and catch.
Thalaivaaa !!!
- The two moments when both Rajnikanth says ‘Thelivurayum
Mudivurayum thelintha neerodayai therintha piragu Munnarai etharku’
- The execution of Kochadayaan. The beautiful BGM when
Kochadayaan walks to death. The emotional exchange between father and son.
- Kochadayaan thrashing the doors and shows up as an archer
and the bgm.. Waaa !!!
- The series of preachy punches in the kochadayaan song
I guess I can go on. But, I should record the fact that I feel
so proud and privileged to live in the era where Rajnikanth acted in black
& white, colour, 3d and motion capture films and I grew up with it.
Kochadayaan, go and add a feather to your cap as a Rajni fan : )
Kochadayaan, go and add a feather to your cap as a Rajni fan : )
