"Sikindar" (Telugu)/ "Anjaan' (Tamil) Film Review

"Sikindar" had raised unprecedented expectations and got bid for a whopping crore count in Tollywood with Lagadapati Sridhar buying it wholly. The film has Superstar Suriya, reigning Diva Samantha, Yuvan Shankar Raja as music director and a director N Linguswamy who made some of the coolest movies in South. Not any more. "Sikandar" sucks and proves the biggest I-day bore of all movies.

Set in Mumbai with gang-wars as backdrop, the story opens well with a studious Suriya getting out of a train in search of his brother Raju. His enquiries take him to all the folks who are suspected to be involved with his missing brother. It brings him eventually in contact with the right and wrong people who entered Raju's life. Some say he got murdered by rivals, some say he has gone missing. Most people believe Raju Bhai was a do-gooder with a large heart who put his life before buddy Chandu (played by Vidyut Jammwala). Plenty of flashbacks later, the truth comes out - Who is Raju? Where is Raju? Why is his brother Krishna seeking him out? Is it dual role? Or are they the same? The flashback also throws in the glamor of Samantha who exposes herself like never before, more desperate than an item girl. Samantha is the original lover of Raju bhai in the film. We got to infer that since there is no other title justification - "Sikindar" is a sobriquet for Raju Bhai. The saga moves briskly in the first 20 minutes and then halfway in the first half loses the fizz with one of the most hackneyed plots and lazy treatment. The end is in sight  - the unravelling of the villain gang starting from Dileep Tahil, Manoj Bajpai and others - but not before an agonising 170 minutes. It appears director Linguswamy has lost his marbles in presenting a superstar at the peak of his career in different moods and styles. Generally, Linguswamy has created stars out of characters that are rustic at heart and unchiselled bag of surprises. In "Run" he unleashed Madhavan. In "Pandem Kodi" he gave the solitary superhit for Vishal. In "Awara", he gave Suriya's brother Karthi his best shot as a cool dude. But in "Sikindar", he gets carried away by the persona of Suriya and wastes many characters and technical talents in giving one of Suriya's lackadaisical films. Imagine when you had Santosh Sivan, Yuvan Sankar Raja and a starcast like this, you got to over-invest in better storyline and depth in narration.

All we  see is mindless violence, and frames that show Suriya as stylish as ever. He comes out good because he is a natural good-looker. Samantha also carries off her girlish demeanor with ease. Brahmanandam has an act as an unmelodious vocalist but doesn't fire with full impact. Infact, the artist who gets more laughs is the guy who drives Suriya all around Mumbai in his search for his brother. The day the stars realise that it is not important to have gang-wars and item girls like Chitrangada Singh to look heroic, directors have half a chance to make meaningful cinema. But one senses that after the mixed success of "Singham part two" and  experimental debacles like "Maatraan" and "7 Ariyu", Suriya is desperately seeking success. In the march to superstardom and the pointless struggle to retain it, superstars eventually go from hubris to debris. Suriya hoped to see a luck-turn by changing release of his movies from Diwali weekend to I-day weekend. Too bad, this won't work out again. But he has the range of acting, the talent and the patience to re-invent himself better than many other Superstars in Kollywood. At quite a few places, worn out scenes and fatigue in presenting sequences dullen your senses. Otherwise this could have been atleast averagely watchable film. Yuvan Shankar Raja needs to reduce his techno mixes and concentrate on straightening his tunes alone. He has the talent and the gene pool to give great music. Why doesn't he get it? On the whole, a film that tests your patience despite all the respect and admiration we may have for the team that has given us great films.

My rating: 2.25/5.

7th Sense Movie Review

7th Sense was a little short of fireworks at the movie hall but was worth a watch. To be fair, "7th Sense" has an amazing plot that has even got Aamir Khan interested (who doesn't repeat his director ever - AR Murgadoss). The plot has got Martial Arts, unbelievable stunts, a cuter Shruti Hassan and a variation of two characters... for Suriya. As Bodi Dharma - a Hindu King who emigrates to China in the 6th Century, saves folks from disease and injury from enemies, becomes a monk with unlimited powers and then adapts himself to Chinese good- Suriya looks strikingly handsome. Thats the utlimate paisa vasool of the movie. As a junior circus artiste, second role, he looks ordinary until the science fiction of Murgadoss feeds and realises on celluloid this bizarre idea of imbibing the DNA code of BodiDharma for tackling the modern menace in the form of the villain - again from China. The story is one-dimensional and the screenplay doesn't sizzle you with excitement because the director doesn't use flashback technique well - the first 30 mins. which forms the soul of the film runs like a documentary - it could have been more effective. Second half shows some dramatic scenes but the plot is out by then. What makes the film watchable? Undoubtedly, Suriya and his maginificent stunts composed by Peter Hein. And a few (very few) relief moments from Shruti Hassan's improving screen presence. A few songs by Harris Jayaraj also come out good especially the one in Chinese backdrop. But what could have been better? Violence (which was needed for the plot) is too graphic. Nil Comedy (atleast I couldn't spot any but the Elephant joke). The movie could have been a tad more dramatic given the 7th Heaven expectations I had - but thats how movies turn out sometimes. Is it worth Aamir Khan betting his next movie on? Needs more fleshing out by dir Murgadoss. I googled Bodi Dharma after I saw the movie - and didn't find any stuff thats closer to whats projected on screen. The movie could be renamed - The Monk who smashes Ferraris. Unlike Bodi Dharma - who is zen-like and peace-loving. Watch it once but not ga-ga.