Robot is as good as Endhiran!

When I sat down to review Rajnikanth's 'Robot' (the Hindi version of 'Endhiran'), I suddenly felt an empathy for the judges who wrote that 10,000 page verdict on the Ayodhya issue a couple of days ago. For, there are only two types of people in this world - those who adore the Thalaivar and those who avoid his movies. And I belong to the former category and so will be favourably prejudiced.

For the millions of Rajni fans, the return of their idol in a dual role is double celebration time. The actor, who has played twin roles in the past in movies like the forgettable 'John Jaani Janardhan' (1984) to the eminently watchable 'Thillu Mullu' of 1981 (a remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's classic 'Golmaal'), plays scientist Dr. Vaseegaran and his robotic invention Chitti.

Unlike his larger-than-life portrayals of yore, Rajnikanth comes up with a dynamic performance as the Robot. What is eminently noticeable is the actor's penchant for depicting shades of gray in his characters, something he does intelligently to showcase how the machine man slowly turns on his master and the world.