The story line is new. There’s a new facet to Rajini’s acting prowess. The technology has taken Tamil cinema to a new high. Such grandeur has never before been seen in Indian cinema and has the viewers transfixed.

Story

Scientist Vaseegaran (Rajini) has no time for love, or even drinking coffee. He slogs for 10 years and builds a robot that is 100 times stronger than man. The robot (also played by Rajini) is named Chitti and is well versed in dance, fighting techniques and its knowledge and intelligence gets certificate of excellence from everyone. But Vaseegaran’s guru Dr. Bohra is jealous of his disciple’s success and refuses to endorse the robot.

Endhiran is after all a robot. It cannot have human feelings. If it is used in war, it will have disastrous results. So saying, he gives Vaseegaran a shock. Vaseegaran resolves to give Endhiran feelings within a span of one month and also manages to do it. Till then, the robot would only execute orders. Now it shows feelings of anger, sadness and sympathy. Now comes the tangle. The robot Rajini starts to develop feelings of love for human Rajini’s girlfriend Aishwarya Rai and the ensuing confusion gets respite with the intermission.

Chitti is firm that he cannot forget Aish. Now it’s time for scientist Vaseegaran to get serious. He tears apart Chitti into pieces and throws it in the dust bin but Dr. Bohra gives it life and uses Chitti for destructive purposes. The new robot kidnaps Aish and indulges in destructive actions. How scientist Vaseegaran confronts the robot and saves his girlfriend Aish and the town forms the rest of the story.

Rajini

Wow! Rajini looks amazingly youthful, at least 20 years younger. Chitti Rajini is more enchanting than scientist Rajini. When a traffic police asks for bribe, ‘vettidu’ is taken literally by Chitti and he takes a knife to cut. ‘TV poduppa” is taken in its literal meaning and Chitti drops the TV! In the name of love for Aish, Chitti spouts romantic poetry. Chitti Rajini is hilarious.

After intermission, the third face is the villain who also happens to be Rajini and he shakes up the audience. In a robot meant to do good things, Dr. Bohra replaces with a destructive chip. The likeable Chitti transforms into the destructive robot, kidnaps Aishwarya Rai and his dance of terror when he tries to establish his own ways is terrifying.

“This is our palace and I am the king here. You are the queen.” “There are only two good things that man created. One is me, the other is you!” Romantic robot Rajini is super!

When the robot Rajini realizes that Vaseegaran has infiltrated his army, he gives the command that the black sheep in their midst should be caught and commands all robots to shake their heads. On catching the scientist Rajini, the happy robot bleats sarcastically like a sheep and the whole theater bursts into frenzied applause.

The dance movements and style shown by Rajini in the song sequence fills the hall with whistles!

Aishwarya Rai

Just like Aishwarya is slim of build, her part in the story is also slim. When even the mechanical robot falls head over heels in love with her sparkling eyes and pouting lips, need anything be said about humans with blood coursing through their veins? She is an intoxicating factor in the film.

Shankar

Shankar should be felicitated for having given shape to writer Sujatha’s story of Iniya Iyandhira, for a screenplay that does not drop into boredom, his excellent direction and hard work in making a film that has given India a superior film in all ways. Usually directors, when they write stories for Rajini, pack it in with punch dialogues. In their midst, Shankar has given us a Rajini film that is still enjoyable minus any punch dialogues and credit goes to his vision. The third point for which Shankar deserves appreciation is for making a family entertainer, if one can overlook some logic imbalances, and happily take one’s children along for watching the film.

Supporting cast

Santhanam and Karunaas provide the comedy element but they are not a patch on Rajini. Since their comedy scenes seem to be patched on to the film and stand apart, it seems like time waste. Rajini as the villain robot is so authoritative that he overshadows Danny as the evil Dr. Bohra.

AR Rahman

Since winning the Oscars, the Isai Puyal has attracted more attention. He has not disappointed.

“Kilimanjaro,” “Irumbile oru hridhayam mullaithadhey,” “Ariam arima,” have already become hits after the audio release. Seeing them on screen makes for more enjoyment. He has also given impressive background score comparable to Hollywood films. Resool Pookutty’s sound engineering has added to the film’s strength. The lyrics by Vairamuthu and Kapilan Vairamuthu suit the film’s story very well.

Is there a god or not, asks the robot of Rajini. Who is god, is the echo. The viewers say it’s the god who created us. The robot says, “It’s Dr. Vaseegaran, who created me. That means there is a god.” One sees such intelligent dialogues in the film.

In the climax scene, when the robot destroys itself, he looks at Aishwarya and says, “Sana, I miss you. Don’t forget me. Think of me not as a boy friend, but as a toy friend.” It’s rather touching. Inside man are many lies, jealousy and revenge. Throw them away and life will be peaceful. Many such dialogues in the film attract attention.

Other technical support

The glossy scenes speak of the hard work put in by cinematographer Ratnavelu. The hard work is also seen in the rail fights composed by Peter Hain. Kudos for his hard work. Sabu Cyril’s art direction, the costume designs and many other elements have been a strong support to Shankar’s direction.

Forget about the logic. The fantastic graphics and animatronix have taken Indian cinema to the next level. One should have a special felicitation function in Kodambakkam for these graphic artists.

All the robots gather into one huge ball. They form a tower together and destroy the flying helicopters above. They take the shape of an anaconda and swallow up the braves. Turning into a demon, it runs down the streets. The 45 minute climax inspires awe in the viewer. A salute to the creativity.

‘Endhiran’ is a vaseegaran!