Yes. You read it right. Chandramukhi is indeed Boloney of the First Order. The most overrated, downright stupid movie of all time, that takes the viewer for a Royal Messy Ride. What’s most shocking though, is that the movie has crossed all records as far as box-office collections are concerned. The producers are laughing all the way to the bank and Rajnikant, who is the First and last reason to watch the movie, shares 50% of all profits, which till last week was around 40 crores!!
Before reviewing the movie, I really want to look into what makes a successful Tamil Film. What drives me to do this is that the recent list of hits. Gilli, Vasool Raja MBBS, Manmathan, and now, Chandramukhi.
Gilli worked because of great music, choreography, performances and some humor. Direction too was very good.
Vasool Raja had superb comedy, Kamal’s bravura performance, great music to support.
Manmathan had hype, hype and more hype to take it to the top!
Chandramukhi…well…..let me reveal this at the end!
The point to note here is that the words Story, Screenplay NEVER featured in any of the above movies! So, successful movies of late rarely had a good story or screenplay. They capitalized on various other factors to reach the top.
But there is one genre of Tamil movies that beats all logic, statistics down and out! Rajnikant’s Movies. For those who would say that Baba was a flop, I say that it collapsed due to the controversial religious sentiments expressed. Also, it was the first ever movie where the lead actor was shown smoking for the entire first half. Such negative influences, coupled with the boloney that was presented, drove audiences away!!
Remakes can never match the original, they say. This one is THE IDEAL example to show how a Good Script can be tinkered and played with to such an extent that the end result is Pure Boloney! How something meaningful can be turned into meaningless nonsense. How finely etched characterization that is partly responsible for the awards that the original garnered, can be ruined by making everyone talk and behave like buffoons!
Read the warning: Please leave your Brain and Expectations at home. Producers are not responsible for any damage to the same. That’s what will be printed on movie posters if movies like Chandramukhi continue to be made!!
Chandramukhi is like Stale Food. Everything, right from the fights, the comedy, the performances, the direction, the songs and their picturization, even the background score feels Stale. Compare this to Annamalai or Badshah and they begin to look like Masterpieces!!
Sivaji Productions 100th film couldn’t have been any worser than this. Shame on Actor-Producer Prabhu, for turning a blind eye towards the story, screenplay and direction. Everyone knows that P. Vasu was a great director once upon a time, but he had his fall too. Right now if you ask me, he’s down and out! Choosing such a director to helm their 100th film was the first mistake that Prabhu did. Allowing Vasu to tinker around with the story, screenplay, to allot maximum screen time to Rajni was the second Big Mistake, because he has messed it all up! The third mistake is to miscast everyone!!
Rajni, playing a psychiatrist, only evoked guffaws as he went about bashing people in such a way that they kept swirling and flying around him! It’s impossible to even imagine Rajni as a doctor! He doesn’t speak, behave or even dress like a psychiatrist. Sporting different shades of glares, dancing around with village locals, staring suspiciously at people…he does it all!!
Prabhu and Jyotika as newly wed couple?!! Oh man!! Talk about cost-cutting! Prabhu looks like a father of two, sporting a bulging tummy, while Jyotika doesn’t look too young either! So, neither of them are able to sink into their characters and play the part well. Also, their characters aren’t well developed, thanks to major attention being given to Rajni’s character.
Nassar and Chemeen Sheela as Prabhu’s relatives are left to behave like buffoons. While Nasser keeps yelling around and making faces in every scene, Sheela keeps sipping coffee or tea in most scenes with a dumb servant/guard standing near her…staring suspiciously all the time!! Why? No one knows!
Nayantara as Rajni’s love interest, and Vijaykumar as her father are restricted to a few scenes. Nayantara must be about 20-22 years old. Yet she dances and sings around with 60 year old Rajni!! And she looks plump in those sarees!! Why not make her wear something modern atleast in the songs!! Cost cutting I suppose!! I feel sad that Vijaykumar did this “Blink and Miss” role that had no life in it!
Vadivelu, as the servant, performed some absolutely irritating comedy that made me tear my hair! Why the hell should he keep suspecting his wife of having an affair with Rajni? The double meaning jokes that ensue are again unpalatable.
Finally coming to the Mantravadhi or the Ghostbuster! He looked pretty spooky to me…eyes ready to pop out at any moment, a moustache that ! But what psyched me out was the scene when he explains to Prabhu about Rajni. That he is a great doctor, he knows this, and he knows that…blah blah blah!! I laughed out loud, wondering how he came to know stuff even Prabhu wasn’t aware of!!
Also, another glaring loophole is when Rajni explains Jyotika’s past to Prabhu!! It’s crazy that Prabhu knew nothing about his wife’s past!! Ridiculously stupid!! And that BIG BAD Snake that was shown once? Where did it disappear all of a sudden?
Apart from that, the fight at the beginning of the movie and the one after interval made very little sense, and they went on for eons!! Looks like the editor went off to sleep!! And the stunt director was busy copying Matrix stunts, making Rajni jump and swing around in the air!! Oh, I forgot to mention the scene when Rajni notices Prabhu is going to have poisoned tea and flies through the air to save Prabhu. Hilarious stuff !!
All through the movie you could feel that the whole thing is being hushed up in a half-baked manner. Art direction and lighting was inconsistent throughout the film. Make up and dresses weren’t up to the mark as well! The music, by Vidyasagar, made me yawn and literally put me to sleep. So hopelessly bad were the tunes. No zing, no energy in them!
The screenplay reminded me of movies that used to be made in early 90’s…5 songs, 2 fights, etc. It’s the most archaic and pathetic screenplay I’ve seen in years. The worst thing is that it feels kinda disjointed and doesn’t hold the story and pacing well together.
Direction is absolutely horrible. Vasu doesn’t manage to get a winning performance from ANY member of his cast. All he does is make them behave like buffoons and crazy people. The songs picturisation harks back to the 70’s and 80’s! Nothing novel or innovative. The same old group dance, duets etc.
All in all, Chandramukhi is a movie that should’ve been made 10-15 years ago. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt so bad or sad watching it then!
