Lingaa Review

Rajinikanth plays Raja Lingeswara, the Collector of Kurnool who reveals himself to be the Maharaja of Gadwal!  Confused?  In real life a Chief Minister wanting to serve the poor by becoming District Collector would be laughable, but in Indian films a hero can do that.  In this wonder of a film called ‘Lingaa’, Raja Lingeswara can influence the British Governor to construct a dam, but he prefers to serve the British Government by being a Collector.  Then, such a character in this befuddling film chides the leader of a revolutionary group saying “fool” and exhorts him to either work under Gandhi or Bose.  How poor in taste!

Lingaa (Rajinikanth, again) is a small-time thief, who is aware of his identity of being the grandson of Raja Lingeswara.  He and his gang members (played by Santhanam, among others) are a funny lot who say that what their ‘profession’ requires them putting every organ to full use.  Lakshmi (Anushka ) is in the town to get Lingaa come to Singooooooo in order to fulfill the wish of K Vishwanath to open the doors of a Shiva temple with his auspicious hands.  After initial refusals, he agrees to come to the village if only to escape from the cops (after a lengthy episode of diamond necklace heist) who are on a look-out for him and his gang for stealing a necklace worth Rs. 1.50 cr.  However, once in town, Lingaa realizes that his grandfather was a paragon of virtues.

Right from the beginning, one can smell a sense of directorial complacency all through the moth-eaten narration, presented, paradoxically, through Ratnavelu’s modish eyes.

Except in a few scenes, Rajini behaves alike, whether he is a pauper or a prince.  This is in sharp contrast to the complete body language makeover that Shankar achieved in ‘Robot’, a reason why Rajini was as fabulous as the film itself.  All glorious attempts at portraying the septuagenarian as a relatable youngster smack of an age-old Mutthu hangover.

In a flashback that never seems to end, Rajini appears in the Padayappan get-up in the final scene that seems to end never.  Rajini, Sonakshi Sinha and a host of villagers (villagers are a must in every scene; even when Rajini has to do a Balakrishna stunt, thousands of villagers stand witness to it in the climax) talk and talk to one another in this scene that reflects one of the most renowned 'philosophies' of Tamil Nadu: Rajinikanth-ism!  So much so, one starts wondering if Rajini has been over-indulged.

A serious flaw in the flashback is that star Rajini dominates every scene rather than actor Rajini.  For another, the Sonakshi-Rajini affair doesn’t seem to progress.  It remains where it was when they met in the first scene, with Sonakshi continuing to be the innocuous village belle, too innocent to even fall in love with Maharaja, too juvenile to talk anything profound, and the Maharaja too monotonous in his behavior with the belle.  Chinmayee’s dubbing for Sonakshi is a total misfit.

Anushka, the Lady Bahubali (as one character calls her), is there as a glam doll, failing to sizzle opposite Rajini.  Jagapathi Babu in his 'Legend' avatar goes over-the-top in the climax and that’s all.

While not concocting a surprise, Rajini passes muster with his style.  When he fiddles with a few strands of hair, Anushka is impressed.  When he catches a ‘genusugadda’, Sonakshi is impressed.

AR Rahman's musical output is out of form.  His BG score is OK.  The art work manages to reveal the grandeur.

Verdict: An expensive film that sees Rajani playing two contrasting roles, but not doing two dissimilar acts.

Rating: 2/5

'లింగ' తెలుగు వెర్షన్ రివ్యూ కోసం ఇక్కడ క్లిక్ చేయండి