Movie Magic

This post involves me rewinding all the way back to my first week in Chennai, when I was taken to see 'Endhiran (The Robot)'.

It stars 61 year old 'Superstar Rajinikanth' as the dual male lead (The Professor and Robot) and Aishwarya Rai as his love interest/dance partner. Not the most believable pairing given his advancing years and her 'Miss World 1994'-winning beauty.

But he seems happy enough with the arrangement.

Warned prior to entering the cinema (which, with a typical Indian inability to queue, was like forcing 300 camels through the eye of a particularly awkward needle) that the movie was in Tamil, I was a bit apprehensive as to what i'd signed up for on my first Friday night. Luckily, the plot was paper thin and for the majority, seemed to be a remake of Bicentennial Man with some singing and dancing thrown in for good measure. Oh, and I don't recall Robin Williams' robot being set to evil halfway through the movie and trying to take over India either.

Best Moment of the movie: After deciding that the robot 'Chitty' is just an accident waiting to happen, one of the final scenes sees Chitty dismantling himself until he has no arms and legs with which to do so anymore. A ridiculous end to a ridiculous film.

Worst Moment: The film not ending after two hours like it should have. My heart sank when I was told that the lights had only come on for an interlude.

Most Controversial moment: The robot (who doubles as a superhero) is saving people from a burning block of flats by flying in and out of the building when suddenly he sees (with his superzoomvision) a young woman in the bath screaming amongst the flames. So Chitty flies into the building, grabs the girl and brings her to safety. When she arrives outside, everyone realises the girls is completely in the nip and the girl is so ashamed that she runs in front of the first oncoming lorry to her horrible death. Subsequently, everyone criticises Chitty for not having any human emotions. In other words, it would have been better to leave her burning in the bath than let the public see her naked. All in all, a very strange and ultra-Conservative message from the film makers, which unsurprisingly got slated in the Indian press.

Favourite Stereotype: German Terrorists.

Best Singing/Dancing Segment: The robot realises he is in love with his Professor's missus and can therefore feel human emotion. The film then cuts to Mount Kilimanjaro for a 5 minute song and a dance with all the major players.

I would probably recommend the movie to anyone who has a spare 3 and a half hours just because it's a very silly film. A very silly film that is, to date, the highest-grossing film in Indian history.