I saw Lingaa recently and it was at multiplex in Bangalore and maybe the location played a role in my experience, but I don't think it did. I think the whole Rajini movie watching experience has been changing slowly but surely over the years. And here I'm not speaking about the first day-first show( many first shows, given the advent of the multi-plex) experience, where no matter the quality of the movie, the joint mob-feeling of euphoria and screaming establish the atmosphere of the movie-watching experience. I'm talking about going to the theater a week after the film has been released, because you want to enjoy a thalaivar movie without the noise and really enjoy the punch dialogues and the masterful way in which he subdues the villains, helps the needy and the poor and basically gives you a warm fuzzy glow while exiting the movie hall, like Arunachalam, Basha, Shivaji, etc did for us.
I'm guessing that a lot of people are thinking this after watching Lingaa, but only a few are saying it, maybe because of a lingering sense of the years of hero-worship that they have done for the Super-Star of Tamil Nadu stops them from uttering such sacrilegious thoughts- It's time that our Thalaivar hung up his hero-role boots and do what actors do - act in roles instead of being the role the movie is written for and around.
Sonakshi Sinha is younger than both of Thalaivar's daughters and I guess that Anushka Shetty is about the same age, or at most, a year or two older than his eldest. It is quite disheartening to see him dance around with these young girls. One might argue that many heroes of the past have done the same, but that does not mean that it was tasteful or easy to consume for the fans. Those heroes who did it in the black and white era got away with it easier because of the forgiving nature of the technology in those times. But with extra high definition picture quality available these days, the camera is unforgiving in its capture of every skin crease, fold and frailty in movement, especially when trying to bust a move that the hero might have pulled off with elan twenty years ago.
Fans of this era who are more aware of alternate offerings of entertainment might choose to consume those than watch a Thalaivar movie. What Amithabh Bachchan learnt with his last few movies as a hero is what our Rajni Sir needs to learn, but I really don't want to watch our Thalaivar go through that painful experience. I wish that he would understand it by having watched his friends and switch over gracefully to roles that suit his age and gravitas. And that means eschewing young heroines completely in his movies, unless it is a movie like Cheeni Kum where the story mandates an older man and a younger woman falling in love. Else, unless his directors cast age-appropriate leading ladies, his movies are going to disenchant first and then slowly lose him his fan base.
I'm guessing that a lot of people are thinking this after watching Lingaa, but only a few are saying it, maybe because of a lingering sense of the years of hero-worship that they have done for the Super-Star of Tamil Nadu stops them from uttering such sacrilegious thoughts- It's time that our Thalaivar hung up his hero-role boots and do what actors do - act in roles instead of being the role the movie is written for and around.
Sonakshi Sinha is younger than both of Thalaivar's daughters and I guess that Anushka Shetty is about the same age, or at most, a year or two older than his eldest. It is quite disheartening to see him dance around with these young girls. One might argue that many heroes of the past have done the same, but that does not mean that it was tasteful or easy to consume for the fans. Those heroes who did it in the black and white era got away with it easier because of the forgiving nature of the technology in those times. But with extra high definition picture quality available these days, the camera is unforgiving in its capture of every skin crease, fold and frailty in movement, especially when trying to bust a move that the hero might have pulled off with elan twenty years ago.
Fans of this era who are more aware of alternate offerings of entertainment might choose to consume those than watch a Thalaivar movie. What Amithabh Bachchan learnt with his last few movies as a hero is what our Rajni Sir needs to learn, but I really don't want to watch our Thalaivar go through that painful experience. I wish that he would understand it by having watched his friends and switch over gracefully to roles that suit his age and gravitas. And that means eschewing young heroines completely in his movies, unless it is a movie like Cheeni Kum where the story mandates an older man and a younger woman falling in love. Else, unless his directors cast age-appropriate leading ladies, his movies are going to disenchant first and then slowly lose him his fan base.
