Sivaji
Sivaji delivers exactly what one expects from a combination of Rajnikanth and Shankar - a larger-than-life Rajnikanth improving society in a simplistic but dramatic manner while romancing Shreya, goofing around with Vivek and participating in rich, elaborate song sequences and graphics-filled fights. It is weak on logic but Rajnikanth's style, charisma and screen presence have been exploited to the fullest extent to make that easier to overlook.
[Full review available above]
Balaji's Thots... [Permalink]
Your Thots (63)
63 Comments:
DISAPPOINTING FOR NEUTRAL FANS.
SOME SERIOUS SCENES WER MORE FUNNY THAN THE COMEDY.
+ very stylish ,sleak ,good picturisation.
- to many.
BB
Thanks for the very brief review. Will get back to your full review on 1st of July(after I watch it on the 30th).
You are right. There is substantial tamil population in Australia. The denity of the population is higher in bigger cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Most of the tamil movies are released on the same day in these cities as elsewhere. Smaller cities like Adelaide and Perth have to wait atleast two weeks.
At the moment I say "Come June 30th"....
-Rajesh
Hey,
Waiting for ur review.. Am seeing it on 22nd.
LKS
Hi
I saw it here in Canberra
The songs wee a visual treat, the comedy was ok, the story was interesting
but if a bit of logic, realism and some humbleness was used ,things might have been perfect.
I mean i asked my self why are people lauding a guy for fighting 50 ppl all by himself, why could it not be 3.
Very rightly said, Balaji. Like Suman had said in an interview, this is the South Indian version of a Bond movie and who better suited than Thalaivar to play Bond. Simply loved the movie and can't wait to see it again :) Cool
I saw it here in sydney.. It looks like Rajni is participating in a Fashin Show.. Thalaivar has kalakified...
Pera Kettale Adhiradila
Pushpa
Balaji-
We are going for the 4.30 pm show in San Jose on Sat., June 16th. How about you? More after we experience the Boss!
its going to be at least 2 1/2 weeks b4 i can catch the film...but will eagerly await the D-Day for more reasons than one ;-)
looks like its whetted the appetite of a hardcore Rajni fan, big time.
Thalaivaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :D
Kalakkittar! But atmosphere wise, I think I saw the movie one day too soon :(
Am hunting for tickets for today. Hope there are few that the distributors are holding back.
Maybe I expected too much (which is reasonable for a shankar-rajini combo), maybe there was too much buzz and frenzy before the film release, maybe I love rajni films so much that I want only the best... but the one thing that stuck in my mind when the movie was over was that Chandramukhi was *much* *much* better, and Chandramukhi, for Godsake was just a P.Vasu movie..
While the emotional and courage quotient was great with the one rupee coin punches, amazing fights, unbelievable sets, a gorgeous heroine and breathtakingly picturized songs..Humor which is such a big part of rajni films was a complete letdown. Other than a few laughs for Vivek's one liners, the rest of the comedy situations were painfully boring and audience groans were quite marked :(
Paisa Vasool for sure, but there was SO much more that could have been done..
Sigh.
The first negative comment I have seen on Sivaji from Shwethaji.
Want to see what others who saw the movie feel about it.
I guess people are overwhelmed by the look and feel of the movie than anything else. I guess Shankar has thought it out very well to cash on the WOW!!!! factor which in itself will probably be enough to fill the coffers beyond imagination.
Once the WOW!! factor dies down then we should see how long it sustains.
My 2 cents....
Venkat
I have to agree with Swetha. Some scenes where in fact vulgar and gross, and "supposedly" funny sequences (not remotely even smirk worthy) got very long drawn. The chilli eating scene, and the diwali scenes with the neighbor's twin daughters (who had kari podi on their faces - case of BAD makeup) was just silly and not at all funny, even on slap stick range. Also, the CPR life giving scenes and kathi kuthu without killing minister was plain ridiculous. Though logic takes a backseat in most superstar films (which i dont mind at all) even KS Ravikumar and Vasu would have exercised more sensibilities to have designed those scenes in a better fashion. That said, Rajni looked pretty young and good (though the pretty Shriya was unacceptably young for him -a Nagma would have been a better choice) and he did bring in his style and force to the table on many occasions.
2.5 star-ey jaasthi, and thats only for the songs and 1 rupee scenes.
Enna kodumai Shankar.....
I want 20 dollars back :(
superb movie...enjoyed every bit of it .....already have seen it two times ..
Unlike shwetha n priya enjoyed the comic part very much........
Same here about the comedy scenes. I loved them, except may be the Solomon Pappiah daughters part. The comedy here is clean and enjoyable, unlike the way it was in CM - crass and full of double meaning unsuited for family audience. And Shwetha, let us not even compare P.Vasu with Shankar. That will be such a disservice to the amount of effort that Shankar has put in this movie.
Shankar has fully quenched the thirst of Thalaivar fans who have been thirsty ever since Padaiyappa was released 8 years ago.
fans usa, not sure what u mean by 'neutral fans'. if u mean non-rajni fans then yes, the movie may have been just OK. but for rajni fans, i feel it was a very satisfying one :)
rajesh, enjoy. and do come back and jot down ur thots after watching :)
karthik, full review should be available sunday or monday :)
senthil, i agree. but shankar always is ambitious and so it was unwanted but not surprising :)
filbert, read about how much u loved it. personally, i wouldnt call it thalaivar's best but it ranks pretty high :)
pushpa, yep. kalakified is right :)
mitr, should be clear by now what show i went to :)
ram, yes it did :)
anantha, "But atmosphere wise, I think I saw the movie one day too soon :(" - really? i thot the preview shows would have the real fan(atic)s and so would offer the best experience. it certainly was here in SJ. awesome :)
shwetha/priya, will write more in the full review but the comedy did work for me. enjoyed vivek's one-liners and the whole scenario of 'pazhaga vandhirukom'. like filbert, i just didnt like the Solomon Pappiah daughters parts. if i had to pick 1 aspect that didnt work for me it was the stunts.
venkat, i dont think any rajni fans will be disappointed. how the rest of the cinegoers feel will determine how big a hit it is and how long it runs :)
anon, not me. don't want even a cent back. full paisa vasool :)
anon, me too enjoyed the comedy :)
First of all, I don't watch movies that often. The last movie I saw was VV and I found that to be disappointing (For me especially).
However, after much thinking, I just wanted to give it a shot to watch Shankar's Sivaji purely because it was directed by Shankar.
I've to admit, that I enjoyed the movie from the beginning till the end.
There is not a single adult joke which means, you can go with families. There is no cruel scenes like Anniyan which means, you can watch the movies with your mom and dad too.
As long as you can forget the logic and how such things are possible etc., then this movie is worth watching every bit.
The movie is worth just for Athiradee song and the rest are bonuses.
Watch Rajini's interview
http://techsatish-techsatish.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwwFTFRRSnw
BB,
Have you ever felt when Am I going to see the actor in superstar as it was in Avargal or Buvana Oru kelvikuri or Moondru Mudichi.
Superstardom may have done his fans good, but it is certainly setting a bad example for the rest of the band (as vivek points out in the film). Anyway I'm not a huge fan of Rajini but just like him thats it.
Srivatsan, Dont forget Netrikann and thillumullu
From what that has been expressed so far, there seems to be much jubilation albeit some comfort that Sivaji was no Baba. Jammai..sem...Jammai!!
I loved the movie. It was pretty entertaining and I hate people who say that the movie lacked logic. It is a Rajini movie for God's sake, it is supposed to be entertaining not logical and it was just that. The 3 hours flied by like anything and overall it was a very impressive movie. The only problem I had was because of all the hype here I expected too much from the movie maybe even better than Baasha and that was slightly disappointing.
Vivek's one-liners were good especially the one apparently aimed at Simbhu. Shreya looked gorgeous and did her part quite well actually. As usual, the man himself dominated more than anything. Rajini was awesome especially in the Style song which Prabhu Deva had choreographed beautifully.
I loved the sets on the Vaaji and Sahana songs and I heard Shankar spent about 30 crores on the songs alone.
My advice to people who have not yet watched the movie, don't go expecting it to be another Baasha or something like that. Watch it for what it is, a Rajinikanth movie directed by Shankar and expect to be entertained for 3 hours and then some more and you will get your money's worth.
Balaji, i'm suprised that u didint like the stunts. The two fights after the intermission was okay. The climax fight was simply awesome. i was kinda dissapointed with the fight in the music shop. it could have been better. The BG score was really bad during these scene.
The car race sequece was kinda cheesy and think shankar could have done without it. It would have made the fim racier.
I saw it today.. Thalaivar totally rocks.. the intro of thalaivar in Adhiradi kaaran song gave me goosebumps all over! thalaivaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Siva Nara - if u haven't seen Mozhi yet, go watch it, it is simply the best tamil movie to watch with the whole family.
Balaji- the prices were overpriced, no doubt, but was the movie(experience) worth it ?
I'm planning on wathcing it online on the net and then if i like it, I might buy the DVD.
awesome movie. for rajini fanatics like me it was a feast. can't wait for your full review balaji. and what's this hype about the lack of logic and realism? when a spider bites peter parker and he climbs buildings and when bruce wayne appears at the right time at the right place and when neo battles a hundred men who look almost alike we lap it up and say superrr appu and even go on to watch all the sequels. but when our sivaji does something we have to demand our SGD15/USD20/INR500 worth of logic huh?
gayatri
well said gayathri....
The movie was total entertainer ...awesome ....cant get enuf of it evertime i watch...absolutely superb and makes me watch agn n agn ....
Just saw it! Superb movie for Thalaivar fans!
The only thing that didnt work was Rajini's dance steps in some songs, especially Balielakka.
Speaking of which, Nayantara was probably looking her best in that song. She looks so slimmed down!
Overall, great movie from Shankar.
Delhi sways to the magic of Rajnikant
http://www.apunkachoice.com/happenings/20070616-0.html
Secret of Sivaji’s ‘white’ tan
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/17/stories/2007061755810200.htm
IMHO the movie ll a disaster , note my word DISASTER . now dont think i m kamal fan or anti rajini.
the movie s worse than tirupathi or sivakasi or vallavan or aaru or rendu .
its not disappointment . it trash .complete trah . believe me never beofre i ve seen rajini fans walking before interval not even for baaba n going for restroom/cigarette smoking during songs . the lights wer turned on during that terrace fioghting scenes n whole theatre was empty before the movie got finished .
The furious guy above is obviously a nutter :)
No offence dude, but why would you watch an A star film in a C centre. :)
And since has a film like 'Rendu' been crap :)
Once the initial excitement of having watched Rajni after 2 years dies down, when one thinks about the movie, there is hardly any thing great to write about.. Apart from ishtyle, very little thing in that.. Shankar was a huge disappointment.. Rajni saved the movie.
I loved the movie. Watching it in bayarea was fun. Some neutral fans with me agreed on that too :)
Rajini rocks with able support from sankar. The movie is already labelled a super duper hit and thats what matters :)
@ prin
i mentioned C centre becs rajini has more mass in c centres n i expected the movie to be liked by atleast c cnetre people. but veryone i saw everyone yawning .
@vidya
now the film is hit or flop is not the point . becz of the mass rajini has its not a s surpise that the movie s hit.
but i m a neutral fan n i went to theatre for sankar with lot of expectation keeping gentleman,mudalvan ,even anniyan in mind .
stunt scenes - oh my goodness . even gap10 movies r better.
the only scenes which people enjoyed n talked abt to SOME EXTENT wer motta rajini scenes.
regards
KRISHNA
Too all those who crave for logic and all stuffs...Superstar is a superstr and his fans cut across age ,right from small kids to all old people (Now anybody needs proof fos this???)..so what might seem to be illogical to u might evoke hearty laughters in some other..yes everyoneis here to accept that both rajini and shankar have more potential to deliver much more....thatz our belief in them..nonetheless they know the business exaxtly and they have gone to give the most exciting thalaivar movie.to allthose who criticize the illogical fights and blck comedies i can state more number of scenes why thalaivar is terrific on screen.. screen..and that number will easily outnumber your flaws..Sivaji is a entertianment redifined..also watching rajini movie is half fun onscreen and half funn offscreen...and with sivaji it has turned to be once in a lifetime kinda aura and excitement..as i again repeat itself denying sivaji is jus denying to unleash the kid in u..and if ppl are comfortable with unleashing such..no probs...and nothing will stop this movie to become the show of the century...
yes agreed one wont expect much logic in commercial cinema.
but this movie kills logic .
1.shreya stopping train by waving red color daavani .most shocking scene for a sankar movie.
2. rajini coming alive after doctors declare him dead . expert ragavarun is doctor, magician or god? soem thing that i ve never seen even in gap10 movies.
3.spiderman ,superman kind of stunts ,rajini flying in all directions . drive in theatre stunts was like video game.
4.what the hell that laptop contained . can some one tell me?
athala athhaaaram irukka . what athaaram ? bank accounts ?
5.comedy - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. nothing to say .
6. intro n intro song- worst intro for a rajini movie
story /screenplay witers????i dnt think they wer paid any money becz sankar wasted all momney for glass house ,decorated sets.
my final doubt was this movie directed my perarasu or Sankar???
i saw soe positive reviews here which s very surprising to me .
regards
krishna
the only thing i don't understand is if Rajini does it it's great if Captain or any one else for that matter does it it's bull shit.
idhu endha vidhathula nyayam :)
my ques to rajini fans . if gap10 or jk ritesh had doen this kind of stunts n illogical movie u wud ve dissed them . but now?
Rajini parakkuraaar aama...aana athayum thaandi pala vishayanghal pannuvaaar...bayangarama style pannuvaar...super eh comedy pannuvaar...will dance superb in his very own style....with one scene he can create a fire (like bhasha interval,annamalai daughter dad conversation sequence)...rajini is a holistic entertainment guru and to compare him with anyone u ve mentioned is illogical...now that is a total defy of logic....
illogical or nonsense ? what i saw ws nonsense n not illogical .
i ll sa arunachalam ,baaba.cmukhi illogical but this s nonense . illogical word use panrathe thappa.
3 hrs video game parth maathiri irunthatha. but they dnt give me joystick to play?
anon who questions rajini fans,
can i ask you the same question? if hollywood heroes do this kinda stunts in a total fantasy movie its ok but thalaivar seidha you all will diss huh?
i'm an ardent thalaivar fan and i do laugh at the antics of captain. but when i watch a vijaykanth movie, i fully know what to expect. i know he'll spit bullets. i know he'll utter punchu dialouges at theeviravathigal. i know he'll say dhamil instead of tamil. but i dont come back and demand logic and mathematics. i know that is the vijaykanth package.
gayatri
@gayathri
i m happy with spiderman 1 but i ll diss spiderman 3,300.
y dnt u understand the diff between sci fi,fantasy n nonsene.
i talked abt stunts becs stunt wer the worst part of movie , there s nothing good in this movie xpt 1 or 2 scenes like teashop scene .
ps dnt say comedy n romance was ok . it was irritating n people we r beating their heads. only consolation wer songs n sreya . she was hot.
anonymous
Hey guys,
Sivaji isn't a fantasy movie or him having supernatural powers (superman/spiderman), hence him flying etc is illogical.
The only reason i cud think for the necessity of that train scene is show how obsessed shankar is with cleavage ( previously in gentleman ).
Oh my god, people are actually debating here based on the 'logic' of a rajini movie! I'm not a big Rajini fan, though I do get entertained by his antics (in a good way) and I do understand his importance in Tamil pop culture.
Look, it is very simple. Rajini, by virtue of him being 'the man' in tamil cinema (for those who dont understand how he got there : it just 'is' like that. Its a fact that he has the pulling power that no other actor has), can do certain things in movies that we come to believe (or at the very least, look past).
He is more than just an ordinary man in movies, if we cannot accept that, then there is no point in going to a Rajini movie. You cannot go and watch Sivaji and expect a storyline that Kamal Haasan would have picked. The minute Rajini kanth signs on to a project, it becomes a fantasy film, they dont have to explain it, it just IS that way. Just like how we have movies with unexplained songs and dances that would actually be out of place in real life.
I mean, do people go to watch 'Shrek' and complain that it isn't scary enough? No, because Shrek isnt mean to be scary, its meant to be funny. Likewise, a Rajini movie isnt meant to be logical, it is meant to project him in a larger than life way and showcase that in as entertaining a manner as possible. You have to expect that when you walk into a theatre. The trailer showed enough to understand the movie's tone.
(To the person who claims he saw people walk out of the theatre : Please get your glasses fixed or stop watching his movie inside the Anti-Rajini clubs). I saw the movie in a theatre, and I was blown away by the reception.
I'm sure people are still going to argue this point saying Shivaji isnt a fantasy film blah blah if Vijaykanth did this u would hate him blah blah... Those points are all true. But there is one crucial point that everyone from School Kids to NDTV are scratching their head over... its called the Rajini factor. Some people 'get it' and some people dont.
Cheers.
@ink blot
gap10 has his own set of fans(good no,;see the opening he gets n how his fans do paal abishegam etc for him)next only to vijay or ajith) they ll call it vjkanth factor .
whats the point u want to convey???
even if u say there s nothing wrong in illogical scenes the movie s not enough entertaining.
i ve never said that i hate rajini . infact even though his movies defies logic i loved c mukhi,padayappa , arunachalam,baasha but this movie can be compared only to gap10's naraimha.
it just cant become a good movie becs rajini is there or his fans love him ,he s demi god blah blah blah.
if u say rajini movies are made only for his fans or particular set of people like shrek or some spiderman caters to a particular set of audience then u r insulting rajini . padayappa,baasha wer liked by all .
thats wat i m asking how u liked this horrible movie ??? y r u degrading rajini by calling this is good movie.
@ anon wat a loser u r ......
KP
Movie was good. Typical Shankar movie and Rajni Style..
Story well nothing much to talk about
anon,
arent most movies make believe? do poeple actually break into a song/dance sequence in real life? fantasy/thriller/sci-fi and stuff are genres or classifications. but at the end of the day most movies are make believe.
just cos its a sci-fi or fantasy movie you expect it to be low on logic and watch it huh? so it is the degree of illogic that seems to bug you.
rajini and shanker tell you that this is true story based on some real person's life but secretly it was just a ploy to get you in to watch this movie. if they did then i think they deserve to be dissed.
gayatri
Well I thought it was a good movie, my point is that there is no such thing as a 'vijaykanth' factor.
The very fact that everyone from NDTV to the Deccan Chronicle are pulverised over the whole publicity of this movie is a testament to his power.
Plus, i have no idea how you find Sivaji boring if you like Muthu or Padayappa or Baasha... what exactly did Sivaji do wrong? I hope you will come up with soemthing logical since you seem geniunely shocked that people like this movie.
Balaji, waiting to see your full review. Here is a suggestion for a title for your post :
bagilu bigulu sebuaLu avalu all shows house fullu.....
//Well I thought it was a good movie, my point is that there is no such thing as a 'vijaykanth' factor//
see gap10 movies FDFS u ll know wat vjkanth factor is.
hey im least bothered abt rajini factor,vjkanth factor etc.i like only good movie atleast entertaining movies (eg karakattakaran,gilli,manmadhan)
the movie s not even entertaining .
first half was a big yawn with stale comdeies by vivek. even sundar c movies ve better comedies.
second half was full nonsense .
//u muz be some die hard anti rajini fan//
oh so some one who dnt like gap10 movies must be anti vjkanth fans?
this shows how insecure u are.
i like baasha ,cmukhi etc though illogical becs those movie had some thing called plot/story/screenplay but here nothing .
on a whole if u think this movie is good then for gods sake never comment abt perarasu or gap10 or ritesh movies .
//Well I thought it was a good movie, my point is that there is no such thing as a 'vijaykanth' factor//
see gap10 movies FDFS u ll know wat vjkanth factor is.
hey im least bothered abt rajini factor,vjkanth factor etc.i like only good movie atleast entertaining movies (eg karakattakaran,gilli,manmadhan)
the movie s not even entertaining .
first half was a big yawn with stale comdeies by vivek. even sundar c movies ve better comedies.
second half was full nonsense .
//u muz be some die hard anti rajini fan//
oh so some one who dnt like gap10 movies must be anti vjkanth fans?
this shows how insecure u are.
i like baasha ,cmukhi etc though illogical becs those movie had some thing called plot/story/screenplay but here nothing .
on a whole if u think this movie is good then for gods sake never comment abt perarasu or gap10 or ritesh movies .
a movie is good if its hit oh apadiyaaaa. then producers should not make horrible movies lke heyram n anbe sivam
mottai boss, sorry but i had to delete ur comment. discussions r welcome but plz avoid foul language and personal attacks :)
ink blot, that was a wonderful comment on the rajni factor. the line about 'some get, some don't' applies to several things and here it conveyed exactly what u wanted to say. wish i'd written that :)
krishna/anons, u have to understand that my review and comments of others r opinions of individuals. we have likes and dislikes. we don't say that this is a tightly scripted movie or a very logical movie. we just say that we don't care or we don't notice the lack of logic because of rajni.
Balaji, a lot of newer comments on your 'complete' review will be kind of lost since you placed the rest of the review right under the intial post. Folks will have to scroll down the entire set of 57 comments to read the fresh set on the entire review. You may want to consider making the 'complete' review a separate post next time. Just a thought! :-)
Also, you mentioned in one of your earlier comments in this very same post something about disliking the portions with Soloman Pappaiah's daughters. It would have been good if you had included those kind of comments to your review as well.
On the whole, it's good to see you had a great time watching the film. No surprise indeed that Rajini continues to rock his world and everybody else's world after all these years.
One thing you forgot to mention, this is indeed Thalaivar's 100th Tamil film.. and he along with Shankar & AVM together have made it a darn memorable one for us! :-) ;-)
sandhya, point taken :)
yeah i didnt like the couple of scenes with soloman pappaiah's daughters. but don't last too long. and since the romance/comedy portions still got a thumbs up, I guess I forgot to mention it in the review :)
BB,
Good unbiased review again (inspite of being a superstar fan)
BTW 3 Stars I guess?
Sandya,
isnt it 150th ? (well i donno if it is really his 150th, but shud be close to it). Sri Raghavendra was his 100th.
~~~~~~
Anon,
Having illogical scenes is a part and parcel of thaliavar movies, atleast every movie after Annamalai is consistently like that. Why do you want to goto Sivaji on the opening weekend (when tickets are expensive than normal) and crib about logic. It simply doesnt make sense. If you dint like it apart from that, it is your taste. Doesnt mean you can expect others to be the same way. If that is your aim, it isnt going to happen even if this comment section crosses 1000 comments :-))
Why are you so ticked off with the paal abishegam thing. avanga kitta kaasu irukku pannitu poranga saar. unga kaasu vecha panranga.
~~~~~~
Ink blot,
Capten has his own set of audience. I used to see movies in C centre theaters during college. Movies rarely cross the 2nd weekend. Only 3 movies made it past that. Vanathaipola was the one that created a record (100 days or so), Kadhalukku Mariyadhai and Padayappa are the distant neighbors.
Capten is a small budget player, thalaivar does it ona big budget.
BB, I have been following your reviews for a long time now..you may know me from Minnoviyam. :)
My two cents - I am sorry but I hated it. The comedy did not work for me - although there were some great scenes, I must admit. I am in agreement with Shweta and Priya. The sets were overwhelming (what is the gimmick of having the midgets running around), the fights were illogical and the whole CPR thing was totally nonsensical. I hate slapstick comedy and I was not amused by the courting gimmicks. All I could keep thinking was that Sivaji was supposed to be highly-educated and polished man - how could he act in such a crass manner? Granted, there were some fantastic moments but overall, I felt cheated. I did think that the movie would perk up after the intermission and it did at parts but....
Give me the Rajni of Annamalai (the humour there still makes me laugh) or Baasha or Padayappa. This Sivaji was just ridiculous....and I am a Rajni fan.
Bahma
Malaysia
This film was utter nonsense. It was a disgrace to Tamil Cinema. All the comedy was extremely crass. Rajni was supposed to return from USA as an educated man. But he behaved like a low class and uncouth beggar. Just because you love a girl does not mean you can barge into their house and harass them to marry her. This film is just plain gross and a disgrace.
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