After a long delay Siva Karthikeyan's 'Rajini Murugan' has released on a grand scale amid roaring expectations thanks to the actors streak of successful films.. This time, Siva has teamed up with his 'Varuthapadadha Valibar Sangam' director Ponram and Soori is there for comedy and D.Imman has scored music. This has raised the expectations to a great extent. Let's see how the VVS team has entertained us with their second outing.
Ayyankalai (Rajkiran) is a well off old man in Madurai who has facilitated an NRI life for all of his children. Rajini Murugan (Sivakarthikeyan) is his grandson who lives in the same city along with his parents who are teachers in the local school. Rajini Murugan falls in love with Karthika (Keerthy Suresh) the daughter of Neelakantan (Achudanand) a friend turned foe of Rajini Murugan’s father (Gnanansambandam). Meanwhile, Rajini tries to fulfil his grandfather’s wish of selling the family property and giving the rightful share to all of his sons and daughters who have settled in foreign countries.
Ezharai Mookkan (Samuthirakani) a local don who will do anything for money, claims a share in the property alleging that he is the grandson of Ayyangalai's illegal affair and tries to wreck havoc to the attempts of dividing the family property.
The rest of the film is how Rajini defeats Ezharai’s ill intentions and saves the family property and also marries his lady love.
A predominant part of the first half of the film moves with the hero's attempts to woo his girl. Sivakarthikeyan's combo with Soori as his man Friday works out well as usual in these sequences. The main crisis of the story actually starts towards the end of the first half. The interval twist is pretty interesting.
In the second half the focus is shifted to the struggles to eliminate the problems in retaining the property without losing steam of humour and adding some sequences on family relations.
The main focus of the makers as evident in trailer and pre-release promotions seems to be on entertainment and comedy and there are no tear-jerkers, over the top stunt sequences twists and turns and scenes or ideas that would require the thinking capacity of the viewer.
The film does not disappoint in comedy department, thanks to the proven chemistry of Sivakarthikeyan and Soori. They ensure that the film does not have a dull moment anywhere with constantly one-liners and counters that make us laugh. Even some other characters including Rajkiran have been used to make us laugh and these ideas planted by the director work out fairly well. There are also some nameless supporting characters that manage to make us raise a guffaw. The film also has some lessons on family bonding and the importance of staying attached to one’s roots and culture thankfully they are minimal. There is also a sweet surprise in the climax which we don’t want to reveal and spoil the fun.
But it has to be said that while the humour part of the film has definitely managed to make us laugh and keep us entertained it has not worked so well to call the film as a laugh ride
On the flip side there are too many convenient turns of events. Even the solution to the main crisis and also the sub crisis (problem stopping the lead pair's love) are based on convenient turns and cinematic liberties. The lack of a strong villain (despite Samuthirakani’s menacing performance) has eliminated the grip in the second half. Everything in the film has been handled with a touch of comedy and that goes overboard beyond a point.
Sivakarthikeyan is in his usual best with his flamboyant comic timing and charm in romance scenes. His tremendous improvement in dancing skills is evident in the songs. Soori as the friend of the hero gives what is required of him and the comedian has not disappointed us this time. Keerthy Suresh looks pretty and earthy and impresses with the limited scope to perform. Rajkiran gives yet another impressive performance as a good-hearted old man. He excels in the pre-climax scene with his trademark sentimental acting. Samuthirakani gets another villain role whose prospects have been lifted by his acting skills. Achudhanand makes a mark with his performance with the scope his role offers and he is here to stay.
D.Imman's songs are passable while the already hit song 'Ennama Ippadi Panreengalame' being the pick of the lot. The background theme song for the heroine deserves a special mention. Re-recording and the work of other technical departments give what is required for a entertainment oriented film like 'Rajini Murugan'.
Verdict: An entertainer that can be watched mainly for Sivakarthikeyan and Soori.
