Review: Endhiran - The Robot (2010)

Disclaimer: There are no spoilers. So, people who haven't watched the movie yet can also read. Enjoy.

Magnanimous, Grandiloquent, Pompous, Pontifical, Portentous, Awesome, Magniloquent, Gargantuan, My word web couldn't give me more words as i run out of them to describe the movie. The most awaited movie of the century, in kollywood, has arrived and is here to stay. Shankar and Sun Pictures' magnum opus 'Endhiran' has been under production for 2 years, and its worth the wait.




Rajinikanth grows younger and younger in his movies. This time he doesn't demand an introduction scene, neither does he dance to a self appraisal song nor does he fly in the air defying the laws of gravity, he opens up his screen presence in a subtle manner, as a scentist making his robot after continuous hard work for 10 years.
The first half is totally logical, you can see the protagonists introducing their characters slowly and maturely. There are enough comical sequences, enough songs for the first half. Director Shankar has given robotics a lot of research and one cannot find any flaw whatsoever. The viewer will enjoy the movie and go gaga over every scene until the climax. The first 30 mins of the second half is where things go wrong, the viewer gets vexed watching 3 songs in quick succession. Though the songs are awesome to watch on the big screen, they tend to plant an ache in the viewer's mind. Once the songs are over and the robot's character changes moods suddenly, the movie is back on track and you start enjoying again.




For people who argue that robots should follow Isaac Assimov's three principles, our protagonist has a proper reason as to why his creation wouldn't follow the rules. He makes the robots with an aim and he tries his best to put things in place but as usual they go wrong. What you can expect from this movie is that, even though you can predict the storyline, it doesn't fail to entertain you. The movie has its own crispy n crunchy twists. Watch it to experience it!




Ash, starts off showing her age in 'Kadal Anukkal', one can clearly note the aged look on her face. But as the movie progresses, she slowly becomes more beautiful scene by scene. You can easily make out the way, you know probably, has a hip size of X and finally ending up with a hip size of X-5. I personally don't like her much, but the way Shankar has shown Ash in this movie clearly makes me her fan. She is sexy, she is hot, she is beautiful, she is gorgeous in all her outfits, be it the casuals, be it the traditional saree or be it even the tribal kinda outfit in the song 'Kilimanjaaro'. She has rocked. There is enough screen presence. Shankar must be lauded for he gives all his heroines an equivalent screen presence. Her negatives in this movie include, no proper lip syncing in songs, sometimes she does it correctly, sometimes she blabbers, clearly visible.

Danny Denzongpa, of course dubbed by some other stylishly speaking dubbing artist, performs his part well as the ego centric mentor of Dr.Vaseegaran(Rajinikanth). He dies also quite quickly, because he isn't the villain of the movie anyway.

Santhanam and Karunas, are good comedians otherwise, but their performance in Endhiran is below average, they portray serious characters although their bullying of Chitti the Robot sure springs up some laughs.

Art director Sabu Cyril has erected some wonderful sets, especially where the song 'Arima Arima' has been picturised are astounding and you literally gape over his work. He has also made a cameo in the film. Hope everyone figures out.




Cinematography by R.Rathnavelu, an upcoming technician, has captured the moments well and is sure to grab a lot of projects in the future. His way of picturising the 'Kilimanjaro' song in the heights of Machu Pichu is highly laudable and a commendable effort overall.

Dialogues by Sujatha, Shankar and Karky are wonderful. They amuse us as well as makes us think in a specific direction towards certain situations.

P.S. There is a hidden social message towards the end of the film.

Music by A.R.Rahman is outstanding. Brilliant background music. Even the firing of the bullets, the sounds made by robots, the carnatic touch, everything shows that only ARR can give so much detail into the background score. Two thumbs up to him.




Special Effects, is par excellence for a tamil film, although the viewer could make out easily the graphic sequences in many places. But the climax robot formations are awesome and never before seen even in hollywood. I think Shankar has taken Tamil cinema to a new level where most of the hollywood movies would hav difficulty in catching up with.




Last but not the least, the man who wielded the megaphone, the man behind the movie, Director Shankar, has his basics of robotics right but he too falters in many places. Like the locations are ambiguous, he shifts from Chennai, Mumbai, Vellore quite fast and in fact he shows all of the above as existent in Chennai only. He should have given more importance to it. Anyways, Rajini overshadows everything. He has brought out the 'actor' in Rajini after a long time. No director could do that in recent times. I hope people can understand what i'm trying to convey because you don't see the commerical stylish Rajini in this film, you can only see the intellectual sober Rajini, who doesn't know how to fight, how to dance, how to even crack jokes. Although, Rajini in the robot form is all powerful. So his fans don't lose anything. Shankar has tried at a different genre. You can't call it pure sci-fi. Its something else. Something bigger and better. Although, there are some scenes lifted straight out of the Will Smith starrer 'I-Robot', including the general look of the robot, this movie is something new to Indian Cinema and people must appreciate it. Kudos to Shankar.


So, i end my review here. I didn't want to write much but i ended up with more than i expected just like you would walk out of the movie with just two words, 'Exceeded Expectations'.

The movie has flaws, i don't want to go into it, but yeah i'm sure people can digest it. They are small and do not affect much as movies are made just for entertainment.
So watch it for Rajini, watch it for shankar, and watch it for Ash. And you sure are in for a treat and full paisa Vasool. Here's your movie critic signing off. Please do NOT miss Endhiran.




Rating: 3.5/5


Endhiran - Masala Sci-Fi