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Chandramukhi

The entire cinema industry is waiting breathlessly for the results of Chandramukhi. Magazines are selling like hot cakes. So are audio cassettes and CDs. The cinema halls are jam-packed. His fans are dancing along the aisles. Huge queues line the counters. The tickets sell at grossly inflated amounts. The self-appointed custodians of the Tamil language and culture are getting their day under the sun. And Tamil New Year's Day passed by with barely a whisper. No one noticed. Well, Rajinikanth is back. It reads like a fairy tale... the 'forgotten' hero comes back and all is business as usual.
So, how does the movie (probably the most awaited movie of the year) fare? With a huge cast of stars at hand, from Prabhu, Nayanthara, Jothika, Malavika, and Nasser to Vadivelu, Vijayakumar, Vineeth and K.R.Vijaya, director P.Vasu has a host of people to manage. The experienced man that he is, none of them are overshadowed by the Rajini phenomenon and persona. In fact, a conscious effort seems to have been made to tone down the one-liners, politically charged punch lines and heroism. Story and screenplay are the mainstays while Rajini is only a tool.
The story moves like a mega serial on steroids. Rajini, a foreign educated psychiatrist is Prabhu’s friend. A long-standing family feud waiting to be resolved by Prabhu’s proposed marriage to Malavika, Nasser’s daughter fails due to Prabhu’s love marriage to Jothika. Prabhu decides to buy a palace in the same village as his relatives to solve the feud. The house has a past and is supposed to be haunted with Chandramukhi’s ghost. Chandramukhi was a dancer in the king’s court who killed her and her lover. The ghost of Chandramukhi is waiting for revenge on the king, 150 years later. Jothika becomes possessed by the ghost and somehow gets the idea that Rajini is the king and tries to kill him. Prabhu, being her husband, comes in her way of having her lover Vineeth and becomes another target. How Rajini, to coin a new word, de-ghosts Jothika is the story.
Vidyasagar’s music seemed to impress the fans and the choreographers seem to have done a remarkable job with Rajini’s steps. ‘Devuda devuda’ seemed to be especially favourite among viewers. The cinematography is good without being outstanding. The background music gives you quite a start at times. Jothika’s make up is positively scary at times without being frightening. Each actor has done the assigned job fairly adequately. While everything else about the movie is just about adequate, the exception is Vadivelu, who is outstanding. The scenes featuring Rajini and Vadivelu keep the audience in splits.
So, in the final reckoning, how does Chandramukhi fare? Rajini fans may not be so happy with this offering. Rajini is nowhere to be seen in the movie, except in the comedy scenes and romantic interludes. Rajini’s presence, it seems, is limited to the stunts and song sequences. The hero Rajini is conspicuous by his absence. It may be deliberate, but nevertheless, is not sound commercial sense. Rajini sells, but not this Rajini. Where are the punch lines? Where are all those trademark Rajini gestures? For all those people hoping to live off this man’s incredibly all-consuming charm and presence, thumbs down. Among all his peaches, this one turns out to be a lemon.