During the ongoing pandemic, Annaatthe (அண்ணாத்த) was the most expected movie by Tamilians worldwide. Inconceivably, the film by Director ‘Siruthai’ Siva was disappointing at all levels, to say the least. It is available on Netflix and gets my ‘Rotten’ rating.
The director delivers what he had promised in the trailer. It is about an elder brother from the villages revenging the villains in Kolkata city who wrong his beloved sister. The first half was Annaatthe’s character definition and the winning over of a local bad guy (Prakash Raj). The second half was Annaatthe single-handedly bringing down a mafia kingpin and his brother, all without his sister learning about his presence. There are also romance sequences for Annaatthe with a young lady lawyer (Nayanthara) and (supposed to be) a comedy sequence with his yesteryears heroines (Khushbu and Meena) which were gross.
There was a lot going for the movie: hard work by Rajinikanth visible in every scene, fine acting by Keerthy Suresh, good music by D. Imman especially the title sung by S.P.B. (which was his last song). All were in vain, due to a poor screenplay, which was just a string of cliches with no attempt to present them creatively. In every frame, there are over 50 actors giving us the feel of a Tamil TV soap opera. Throughout the film, Rajini‘s voice comes tired, maybe due to the illness he suffered due to the shooting.
To detox, myself after watching Annaatthe, I am re-watching the early films of the superstar. There is no other known cure for the sickness you will experience after the film. Going through the filmography list in Wikipedia, it is interesting to note that #Rajini has acted in a lot of movies every year from 1975 to 1994 (before Veera). It is unbelievable to note that he had acted in 21 movies in 1978, in many of them he was the lead – many of them were superhits too – Priya had been shot in Singapore as well and that involved travelling as well. I loved his recent performances in Kabali, Petta (not the flashback) and wish he does age-appropriate roles that bring out the super-talented actor inside him.
Annaatthe (அண்ணாத்த)
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