Petta (2019)

Why do you wait to write a review  when the movie is too good. Why do you want badly watch First day show and let it sunk in you to speak about it.  6 months and 3 Rajini movies, I am not used to these much Rajini Movies in a year. Neither any of older fans than me. Petta is a detox for long wait and tired shows of Rajini. You will be able to forget Lingaa or for that matter any of his bad movies ( Second half of Kaala) too for this.  Petta makes you feel like a mashup, may be that’s what you call it as Rajinified today. Its not about Karthik’s fanboy image or What is needed from Rajini. Its more to do with how fans wants to see their beloved star on screen  Rajini and what hits the right senses when the mammoth star walks on screen. Karthik subburaj seems to know it well like his previous directors SP Muthuraman or P Vasu. What you witness is the return of  Guru shishyan, Panakkaran, Aboorva Ragangal, Batsha, Murattukalai , Payum puli in the form of Petta, which is just what a fan needs.

Petta is a reminiscent of all his characters for three hours with impeccable screen presence at this age to bring the Rajini Aura to you.. Petta is a celebration of Rajini  style  in a picturesque visuals and very thoughtful sequences. This would be the smartest in outlook but the most foulest Rajini  that you can get on screen. Year after years, we knew Rajini who may be a Don or Outlaw, but we never had a Rajini who can kill or play a foul game. His “ketta paiyan kaaali “ is a outwardly brute by opposing the Jeyashankar’s and Radharavi’s of yester years. But he gives them life at the end  or we are convinced that Rajini gives peace on screen.

Petta wouldn’t be for every one, you can expect the mixed reviews from every where. It so happens when the star hijacks the whole movie in to his sleeve. Every star seems to be  hiding behind him. May be the formula for Rajini has been as such for nearly 40 years. The usual show stealers like Vijay Sethupathi or Nawazudeen couldn’t move around the plot with Rajinism on a discharge.

The man is infectious right from the beginning and the best part comes in flashback. You will have to scream and break your throat for the dance and mimics of his Madurai Landhu. One perfect scene when he meets Nawazudeen to enquire about his leg and his boast over who hit him is the true Madurai local boy Karthik on display. Karthik flexes his directorial muscles at places like the Nawazudeen’s killing spree sequence ,his Raman Raghav sitting position in the climax and the sets of Madurai Muslim marriage sequence. You definitely have to forget it’s not the time to look at his directorial acumen but only Rajini there. There is an other side to it, Like all good Rajini movies, the movie drags when it reaches climax. Its definitely impossible to create Batsha or Padayappa to build the scenes every interval, Petta tries but it just fades after 2 hrs.

Anirudh and Thiru have their moments through out the movie and Karthik justifies why he picked Anirudh over his fav Sa Na. There is a huge star cast which tries to compliment the intention of the movie to make this a Rajini movie. I am not hugely convinced with this script or the screen play but what makes it forgivable would be those moments which are exclusively scripted and crafted. Rajini watching Soccer with a tea and his hands tied back on his hand is a classic exemplification of Karthik Suburaj writing.

When Rajini opens he starts “ Naan veezhvenendru ninaithaiayo “ ( Do you think I will fall “) , Rajini is a progression which develops usually in the first 30-40 minutes of any his movies. That’s the generic formula which any one can use. Karthik does that right forgetting all his Iraivi, Jigarthanda frames.

This is for the Man himself to be what he was and is over the years and years on screen.

As he says "Petta oru sirappana tharamaana sambavam"