Rudraksh: poor mans Matrix. Review on Rudraksh

The biggest problem that Indian movie makers have is the notion that any fantasy movie has to be based on something mythological. Thus the very foundations of this movie is based on the edifice of the Ramayana and as such is not easily extensible when taken out of the context. The movie revolves around an ''evil'' character (Sunil Shetty) who is trying to bring back the glory days of the Rakshasas (or demons) back to the earth. As such he gets his hands on a mystical stone (seed) called the Rudraksh supposedly belonging to Ravana. This seed then transforms him into an all powerful telepathic, telekinetic superman ( a la X-man) who spreads hatred by inducing riots and violence everywhere. I could almost feel Einstein turn in his grave when they described the rudraksh as a ''multi-dimensional hologram''. lol

As expected Sunjay Dutt is the ''good'' guy, who can basically heal people (like John Coffey in the Green Mile) by transferring their pain unto himself. Very conveniently he is also well versed in many languages and is a martial arts expert who can also shake a leg with the Bipasha as the situation demands. Gimme a break !!

Now that the rather simple storyline is out of the way, lemme analyse the production values. First of all the special effects are rather tacky. The ancient ruins in Sri Lanka, look like a hack job. In one of the scenes I could clearly spot where they had overlaid the painted scenery with the moving characters. Given that the producers are not breaking new ground with these effects, one would have expected better quality. The falling stones in the cave etc. looked very fake, and it was very evident that it was thermocol and cardboard. I would advice Mani Shankar to take a look at the 20 year old Indiana Jones movie and learn how to do these scenes. Fight scenes and gee-whiz graphics are nothing to write home about. They have tried hard to give a Matrix like effect but it ends up being more like a Ramsay flick. The demonic idol is well executed and manages to look eerie and evil. That is the only redeeming thing.

Make up and costumes are not that great and basically involve different contact lenses worn by the actors. Again this looks like a hack job. Whoever said this is the India's answer to the X-men, must be smoking something.

Sunjay and Sunil have done a good job. Sunil looks at home as an evil man. Bipasha Basu does not convey the impression of a serious scientist, esp with her mini-skirts and breaking out into a song at the drop of a hat. Isha Koppikar does what is expected of her. She looks tall and sexy but does not have too much to say. Kabir Bedi is wasted in the few scenes he is in.

All in all, if I were you, I would give this flick a miss .. and wait for it to show up in Zee within a few months.