Yash is a young, successful and also a talented star. He in fact is the most bankable male star in Kannada at present with a series of hits recently. Pundits have not yet elevated him to the top bracket of the troika (Darshan, Puneet and Sudeep) but he’s snapping at their heels. He’s confident of his craft, works hard, does not shoot his mouth off and owes no allegiance to any camp. He recently told a friend that he was on the lookout for good scripts and a dependable director. “There’s no dearth for producers,” he claimed, not with arrogance but utter confidence. That’s the truth too. He was so confident about the success of ‘Gajakesari’ that he stopped signing films. “His price tag will definitely shoot up if the film succeeds,” sighed a prospective producer. Well, the film has been declared a hit. I’ve never heard of a star reducing his price if his film flops unless his career is in doldrums.
‘Gajakesari’, though hackneyed is at least original. It’s a tale straight out of Chandamama. The problem is that like most directors debuting, Krishna wants to pack every punch in the box-office rule book. It starts off promisingly but meanders, veers totally off track and ends with a whimper. The flashback where Krishna rewinds 360 years back only succeeds in hampering the proceedings. It’s become an oft used and stale gimmick. Characters appear and disappear apparently at the director’s whim. Rangayana Raghu is becoming unbearable and his attempts at comedy along with Sadhu Kokila don’t even induce a smile. Yash is convincing, be it while wooing the heroine, taming the elephant or bashing up the goons. Harikrishna’s songs always sound familiar because he steals his own tunes! Sathya Hegde is definitely our best cinematographer and proves it again with his indoor lighting. His only problem is the use of extra wide lenses, which while panning, distorts the serene scenery. Krishna makes a promising debut. He has to be careful not to fall in love with every frame he cans.
***It was eerie. Imagine watching a Rajnikanth starrer with only around twenty others on the fourth day of release. The silence when the superstar first appears was deafening. Without glasses the 3D images are slightly distorted and when you wear them everything appears dark with the bright colours muted. It’s all like an ‘Amar Chitra Katha’ comic come alive on-screen with bad drawing. Every single movement of the characters looks laboured. Eyes are glassy and faces sans expressions, even basic. It’s obvious that caricaturing Rajni’s characters has been given utmost importance. For the rest you have to guess the stars playing the respective role. Usually caricatures are made to look more beautiful with exaggerated curves especially with the female form, but here Deepika looks disproportionate. Rahman does try to elevate the sequences with a rousing score and even comes up with a couple of lilting tunes. The film just doesn’t do justice to Rajni’s popularity, magnetic persona or his talent as a performer. You can be sure no film will claim it used the same technology as ‘Kochadaiiyaan’. Await ‘Lingaa’ being canned at breakneck speed.
***I was back in Mysore on the sets of ‘Lingaa’. It was at the sprawling Government Guest House bang in the centre of a verdant, but ill-maintained garden. Getting in was easy this time because producer Rockline Venkatesh himself was keeping an eagle eye at the entrance. The security cordon was waved aside and the passage inside was a cakewalk. Rockline’s smile belied his apprehension. Was I there as a friend or a journalist? Well, I’m his friend but not while visiting a film set, especially when it features Rajnikanth. The guest house serves as a British Collector’s residence and it’s a confrontation scene. Rajni, looking smart, thanks to the magic of make-up reels off a couple of punch lines. The actor playing the role of the collector is no junior artiste. He’s a professional who rushes to watch the monitor after a scene is canned. Rajni apparently is impressed with his professionalism. He even dares to ask for a retake even after a shot is ‘Okayed’ by the director. Rajni doesn’t seek the cool confines of a caravan while waiting for the lights to be set up. “He doesn’t like any extra attention. In fact, he eats whatever we all eat for lunch,” says Shivu the junior artiste supplier. The detailing by Sabu Cyril, the art director is remarkable.
There are local bigwigs waiting to be introduced to the superstar. Rockline requests them to wait till pack-up. Nobody disturbs Rajni between shots. He’s either rehearsing his lines or is lost in thought. Pack-up is called exactly at 6 p.m. Rajni breezes by halting momentarily, at the entrance to wave to the sea of fans. Very few privileged guests are ushered into his caravan for a few words and a keepsake. The unit of ‘Lingaa’ has shifted to Hyderabad to shoot some action sequences under the supervision of the foreign stunt coordinator who worked in ‘Viswaroopam’. Watch for some breathtaking action atop a moving train!
sshivu@yahoo.com
