Blogpur: Chandramukhi - Rajini the Phoenix

Chandramukhi - Rajini the Phoenix

Na sollitu pannamataen, athu panumbothuthaan theriyum

So begins Rajini's famed recovery from the self imposed exile on the film industry with the enjoyable Chandramukhi. In years gone by I was an avid Rajini fan and to this day have a soft spot for him, although I now appreciate Kamal Haasan a heck of a lot more.

Chandramukhi is a 'different' Rajini film for a number of reasons:

It has no villain as such
No Punch Lines
No smoking
No political dialogues

These all add up to a movie that is more reminiscent of the superstar back in the late 80's rather than the Superstar of the 90's. In spite of the above facts, Rajini has lost none of his style and charisma and in doing so has effectively proved that 'beedi' and 'punch lines' are not necessary to craft a extremely suave character. In acting in Chandramukhi, Rajini has hands down thrown the gauntlet to his competitors (including the stone-like Shah Rukh Khan) proving he is a class apart when it comes to acting with style. There wasn't and won't ever be an actor to touch Rajini in terms of panache.

The film centres around a haunted mansion where the curious Jyothika invokes a curse due to her opening of Chandramukhi's room. Chandramukhi was a dancer many years ago and her spirit starts to haunt her. It is now upto Saravanan (Rajinikanth), a psychiatrist, to save her from this dreaded curse.

The first half of the film is a joy ride with an incredibly stylish introduction for Rajini, a lot of comedy and some songs. It is also a pleasant surpise to see Rajini dancing using methods previously untouched and definitely more in tune with his age. Vadivelu and Rajini go on about creating comic situations which work sometimes and other times seem out of the place and crude.

Prabhu looks trim, young and vibrant as does Rajini. The Baba makeup (or lack thereof) is long gone replaced by a Good - Looking albeit a slightly aged Rajini. Nayantara has nothing much to do and her romance with Rajini (to the anger of his fans) could have been avoided.

The second half of the film goes into the meat of the story and though the comic situations continue they are heavily overshadowed by the storyline. Rajini delights with some suave acting and some well picturised songs (including the delectable Athinthom and Konja Nerum, Annanoda Pattu has been given a lavish finish reminscent of Hindi films). On this matter, Vasu has let down the film a little as he has not given proper time to handle the story in a meaningful way, inevitably falling off from the tightrope of Rajini and story combined.

Jyothika controls the second half with her great performance in the female lead, she has revelled in a female orientated subject and should be given kudos. The ending may have worked 10 years ago but now, this method of finishing off a story is showing its age, however it is satisfying if a little contrived. Prabhu's emotional outburst seems a little over the top aswell. The film also definitely needs a boost in the 'scariness' department and a more coherent screenplay would of helped.

Asking for a Rajini movie with a perfect script backed with astute screenplay and direction is liking asking God to show his face, the fact holds true for Chandramukhi as well, God doesn't show his face. The movie is meant to be enjoyed with the whole family and represents the rising of Rajini from the so called ashes (Baba wasn't that bad). It seems he has given up political ambitions and can return to what he does best - creating entertaining and stylish movies. On that count Chandramukhi succeeds handsomely.

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Chandramukhi - Rajini the Phoenix

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