Movie Review: Robot (Hindi) 114

There is nothing that Rajni Can’t is just one of those myriad SMS and email gags that go around. Although Rajnikant’s antics really need no introduction, this time, his usual stuff is delegated to an android in his latest entry, ‘Robot’.

Dr Vaseekaran, a robotics scientist, played by a professorial looking Rajnikant has worked for a decade developing a mechanical soldier for the Indian Army who is christened by his mother as Chitti also played by Rajni. Busy as he has been, he hardly has time for his lady love Sana (Aishwarya Rai), tad old to play a college girl though.

For Vasi to realize his dream, Chitti needs approval by an agency that is chaired by his mentor Dr Bohra (Danny) who rejects Chitti out of sheer jealousy and that the Robot cannot feel emotions. Now upgraded, Chitti starts to feel emotions. Predictably the Robot falls for Sana, putting the creator and his creation on the warpath.

Romance apart, the plot draws heavily from ‘I-Robot’ (2004) where it was about the Artificial Intelligence server finding creative interpretations to Asimov’s 3 laws of Robotics. Something similar was also seen in last year’s ‘Eagle Eye’. Probably to avoid complication, or to make it palatable to romance-happy Indian Audience, the plot here is different. I’m also told that the story is based on a 70’s Tamil novel.

A Rajni starrer that its, one can expect the usual overdose of drama. But, in his professorial role, this time, he chooses not to defy laws of Physics! It’s the android that takes the centre-stage and the film doesn’t cut corners to make it seem realistic. The believable special effects have surely has taken Indian film-making to the next technological orbit; although with a little help from the folks from Hollywood.

AR Rahman’s average fare is a let down. The story often breaking into a song-dance sequence every few minutes is hardly amusing. Of these, ‘Kilimanjaro’ deserves a special mention for its choice of Machu Picchu as the shooting location. Curiously, the song is named after a mountain located a third of the globe away!

Coming to casting, the average age of the lead pair is close to 50! Food for thought, huh! Those playing Rajni’s sidekicks stick out like a sore thumb as they shamelessly call themselves scientists on screen and are hell bent on sabotaging the project and dish out woefully subterranean humor. The script definitely needed a lot more work.

Thus said, it’s only fair to say that this is a review of ‘Robot’ and not that of ‘Enthiran’. It’s possible that a lot of humor and dialog must have been lost in translation.

Rating 6/10: Path-breaker for special effects in Indian Cinema

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