When was the last time your office gave you an off and a movie ticket because a new movie of your beloved superstar was releasing? That’s exactly what was happening in many of the companies located in Bangalore and Chennai at the beginning of Aug’23. I could not understand this phenomenon, not to mention how jealous I felt.
The movie I’m referring to here is the latest of Thalaiva’s- Jailer, which was released on 9th Aug 23. Oh, I so wanted to be amongst those lucky few to actually witness the amazing, energetic phenomena of watching Rajnikant’s movie in a theater. I envied them so much on the release date. I had such luck in 2007 when Rajnikant’s Shivaji the Boss was released. I watched it in Tamil just to see the magic, and to understand why people are so mad for him. And while I was there to judge the fans, I became one as well.
Why? There is no greater joy to see Rajnikant enter on the big screen.
His movies are madness. The dialogue delivery, the idiosyncrasies, his style, his fights. Everything just lits the screen. So when the news came that companies were offering a ticket for his newly released Jailer on its first day I envied those employees.
Nevertheless, I decided to wait for the movie to come on the OTT platform. And my wait was over last week.
Jailer was finally released on Amazon Prime. I watched it like a hungry bull. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though it was on my home screen. I love the way Rajnikanth handles the subjects. I know there is a template for Rajnikant’s movies. I don’t mind that template but there is always an attempt to deal with different subjects in his movies. Shivaji the Boss deals with corruption in education while Jailer movie deals with corruption in police and the theft of sculptures.
As Rajnikant himself is 72 years old, I believe he started playing grandfather-suitable roles. However, he is still a tiger. During the course of the movie, the circumstances will change in a way that he has to come out of his shell. And you will see that in his facial expressions. You will know that the devil inside a man has been awoken. I love the music that gives energy to the movie. I love all these side actors which creates a sense of drama for the movie. I loved the villain of the movie. He did a phenomenal job which makes you stay interested in the fight of our protagonist. There were few guest appearances and you simply can’t forget the Taal’s music score in the background at a very unexpected scene.
While we knew that no one could beat Rajini saar, it was very interesting to find out how Rajini saar would beat the baddies.
Of course! Being a movie made for entertainment there is nothing that can be taken away from the movie. But if you look at it as a story there is nothing much to offer here. Close to one hour could have been easily snipped towards the end. The impact that the director might have hoped to create from the last scene was surely lost.
Now if you set aside these minor details and go there as a fan, you will be amazed and filled with a sense of joy.
If you take a step back and ever wonder why such a standard format movie made 600 cr. at the box office, you would start to think in many areas. For example, Rajnikant is an old man and he does not shy away from showcasing his age through his off-screen presence. He is bald yet when he comes on the screen with a full head of hair everyone goes mental. I believe the reason people are so mad for him is because of his humble nature. His interviews are very rare and when he gives them he’d always be soft-spoken. I’ve never seen him boastfully talking about anything. He loves his fans and he knows how much he owes them. We have not seen any controversies being floated around his name and I believe that his name is ubiquitously respected.
He has that fourth dimension of an actor where the actor breaks the fourth wall, and looks into the souls of the audience through the camera. He connects to everyone who is seated in the theater. It probably could be because we feel he is just like us. A common man fighting against the odds.
Jailer was an entertaining, great movie to watch and I hope Rajini saar continues entertaining us for years to come.