Raja's read only memories

Appeared in City Express , the daily supplement of The New Indian Express , on Tuesday, December 27, 2011 A still from Rajapattai... Has the director bitten more than what he can chew? Despite having an enviable star cast, and a noted director and music director at its helm, Rajapattai (king's way), a masala movie in essence, has a storyline that makes the viewer realise that stifling yawns is more daunting than playing rapid-fire chess. No surprises in this love plot 'Annal' Murugan (Vikram) is a gym instructor who aspires to become a villain. A righteous person, he saves Dakshinamurthy (Vishwanath) from goons who are out to bump him off. It transpires that Dakshinamurthy was fleeing his greedy son (Avinash), who wants him killed for his wealth. In offering support to the geriatric, Murugan makes many an enemy, and by extension a slew of fight sequences follow. In exchange, the senior citizen helps his protector in his conquest for love, who is cupid-struck wi...

Director Suseendiran, who marks a return to the rural milieu with Azhagarsaamiyin Kudhirai (Azhagarsami’s horse) after Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu , I suspect, may have paid a silent tribute to a filmmaker who revelled in bucolic themes, Bharathiraja. The portrayal of the rural setting in the movie (based on a short story authored by writer Bhaskar Sakthi) is largely reminiscent of that in movies such as Pathinaaru Vayathinile or Kizhakke Pogum Rayil. Two lovers when on a secret outing to the town watch, of all movies, Alaigal Oyvathillai ; a village decides to conduct a temple fair in order to appease the rain god; women burst into lyrics at the snap of a finger. However, my favourite scene was where a sleeping stray dog perks up, rather expectantly, when the town crier announces the conduction of a village fair. The wooden horse of the village deity, Azhagarsaami, goes missing on the eve of the temple fair; as if in a metaphor, a person by name Azhagarsaami (Appukutty), too, loses hi...