Linga (2014)

               I went to Lingaa with my entire family on the first day. What generally happens is that, if i go with my kid, i will be never able to focus on the film. Because i will be busy buying popcorn and explaining to my daughter why Vijay uncle is beating a lot of other uncles. So, i went to Linga with such mind set. I thought i will watch it again alone later without much distractions. However, to my surprise, my daughter fell asleep with in half an hour. So this time i got to watch the film completely uninterrupted.
              

            But then after coming out of the theater, i realized two things. First, i don't have to come back  and i don't want to come back. This is probably the first time i felt like this for a Super Star film. Even for Kochadaiyaan, i wanted to go back atleast for one more time. For Enthiran, i actually went back two more times. Actually now i realize that for most of the Rajini films i have gone back to theater after the first watch. I had seen Padayappa atleast four times in theater if my memory serves correct.There was only one exception to this pattern before which was Kuselan. But that was a sad excuse for a Rajini film.

             In Lingaa, Rajini again plays a double role. Infact, starting from Basha, the only film Rajini has not done a double role or almost a double role is Padayappa(ignoring kuselan). Dont believe me? here is the list:
                              Baasha -  Auto Driver/ Don
                              Muthu  -   Father/Son
                              Arunachalam - Father/Son
                              Padayappa - Padayappa(old/young)
                             (you can still consider it as two roles)
                              Baba - Baba, Babaji
                              Chandramukhi - Doctor,Vettayan Raaja
                              Sivaji  - Sivaji/MGR
                              Enthiran - Scientist/Robot
                              Kochadaiyaan - Father/Sons
                              Lingaa - Father/Son

                    In all these films, there is a pattern. There is one Rajini who is reasonably interesting and other one is a complete bad ass. Think of Sivaji. The second role is completely mesmerizing. The second Rajini comes only in the last minute but I would say that till that point, Sivaji cannot be technically considered a Rajini film at all.  The excitement which he bring in the motta boss role, is what makes you feel that it is a rajini film and you are happy that this is worth the money. Think of Enthiran. Bad Robot, takes the film to a completely new level. Think of Chandramuki. Vettayan entry in the single most badass scene in the film. I always feel that Rajini is at his best while doing a over the top role like Vettayan Raaja.

                      Linga also follows the same path.  There are two Rajinis, Father and Son. The Father Rajini, i thought is actually good and there were a few good moments. For example, in that moment when the villagers drive him out of the Dam and he says "Ellam Avan paathuppan" pointing to the sky, we get to relive the nostalgic Rajini for a few seconds. But those moments are very very few in the film. The second problem is the younger rajini whose scenes i thought were completely carelessly made. What is the with poet scene? Infact, I dont know, why there was even a younger Rajini at all in the film.

                       I would have definitely gone back for a second time, if the film had been just about Lingeshwara Raaja building a dam. This is because that premise was actually good and the role is actually suits really really well for Rajini. For a few moments, the film also touches upon the various problems we face as a country while pursuing common causes, internal politics etc etc. But those are completely washed away by the silly bomb kick. Why K.S.Ravikumar saar why?