So here you go. Its superstar time. For whatever anybody says let me tell you I just love to watch a Rajni movie. Reason:- Simple - Pure entertainment even if it defies logic.
The basic rules as in any other Rajni movie applies in chandramukhi as well - Rajni is all-powerful, all too intelligent & yeah he wins at the end. You can ask me why these should be there for a Rajni movie. The simple & only answer I can give you is’’ Adanda Rajni’’(“That is Rajni’’ -Quoted abt 15 times inside the movie hall by one Rajni fan). These basic rules were not made by Rajni; these are the rules, which made Rajni. It’s not that he can’t act sensible, he simply gives in to what people like & that’s entertainment. He doesn’t mind getting a few bricks on the way as he knows whats the end result. And lemme tell you, I somehow felt for the first time that Rajni was acting for a story (even if it was changed a little bit for his superstar image) after a long long time.
So what was different in Chandramukhi? One big shift was Rajni letting go of punch lines (very very welcome). The second one was Rajni was a part of the movie where other actors especially Jyothika was given more screen space.It wont be an understatement to say that Jyothika dominates the climax.
I just dont want to get into the chandramukhi storyline as it has been beaten to death by my fellow reviewers. Chandramukhi has its own share of flaws, unbelievable moments but I felt they were allowable under the Rajni Films Act.
Rajni after a long time gets into the skin of a character (Gosh the movie’s name was not Saravanan... another shift for a Rajni movie). He performs stunts good enough for a 55 yr old and let me say the make-up was good enough even though Rajni looks old (to make Rajni look like Rajni is the greatest achievement of the make-up man). Even though he is 55 the power of his voice has not come down (It just shakes the theatre). For the first time Rajni fans were quite inside the movie hall (Very hard to find a quite audience for a Rajni movie). I must say the final 30 minutes were superlative right from Rajni explaining Jo’s childhood, her split personality side to the final showdown with chandramukhi.
Sekar Joseph’s camerawork is a very strong asset to chandramukhi. It just follows Rajni’s path perfectly. Thotta Tharani’s set, especially the vetaiya maharaja & chandramukhi’s room were very well done. You kind of expect this stuff from a person like Thotta.
Vidhyasagar’s BGM was excellent though a bit harsh on the ears. The songs could have been better. The spooky score was really good.
And finally we got to give it to the person who made chandramukhi really interesting. Jyothika just steals the show and those terrifying eyes just takes our breadth. Splendid performance.
Lets also give a little credit to P.Vasu.This is a kind of comeback vehicle for everybody and he being the director has managed to pull the best trick. Chandramukhi is already a blockbuster (already grossed over 45 crs in 50 days) and I really dont know how much more its gonna make.
Prabhu is laughing his way to all the banks he has account in.
Chandramukhi would have been a little polished if it had answered few more questions. It does have few unnecessary scenes but then these mistakes are acceptable for me because I never expected anything more. When you get something you didn’t expect, it never disappoints you. I somehow feel Rajni is letting go of this image & it wont be time before he gives us the gems which he gave before.