Cast: Rajinikanth (Kochadaiiyaan, Rana and Sena), R Sarathkumar (Sengodagan),
Jacky Shroff (Raja Mahendra), Nassar (Rikudaman), Shobhana (Yahavi), Deepika
Padukone (Princess Vadhana), Rukmini (Yamuna), Aadhi (Prince Veerabhadra Mahendra), Shanmugha
Rajan (Devadhevan), Ramesh Khanna (Voice), Rob Oldfield (Voice)
Genre: Periodic Drama, Action, Adventure, History
Direction: Saundarya R. Ashwin
Production: Prashita Chaudhary, Sunil Lulla, Sunanda Murli Manohar
Written by: K. S. Ravikumar
Narrated by: Amitabh Bachchan (Hindi), A. R. Rahman (Tamil)
Cinematographer: Rajiv Menon
Editor: Anthony
Studio: Eros International, Media One Global Entertainment
Music: A. R. Rahman
Release Date: 23rd May,
2014
Language: Hindi (Released in a few other
languages as well)
Duration: 1 hours 50 minutes
Kochadaiiyaan
is a
periodic drama, India’s first 3D Motion Capture format i.e. photo-realistic 3D,
an effort by debutant director Saundarya R. Ashwin (Rajinkanth’s daughter). Kochadaiiyaan,
if split, becomes Ko + Chadiyaan (if we forget the extra alphabets added in the
word), it means King + Male with long
matted hair (in Hindu Culture, Lord Shiva is sometimes known as Kochadiyan). This
film is inspired by King Kochadiyan Ranadhiran of the Pandya Dynasty. Although in
this movie, Kochadaiiyam (Rajinikanth) is the powerful commander-in-chief of
the army of the Kingdom of Kottaipattinam ruled by King Rikudaman (Nassar). Animosity
prevailed between Kottaipatanam and Kalingapuri since ages. This movie was
much-awaited by the whole country, one because of the living legend Rajinikanth’s
virtual presence (that too triple dose), and another due to Saundarya’s effort
to initiate Motion Capture format in India. This initiative fetched her NDTV Indian
of the year award for technical innovation in the film even before the film was
released.
The movie begins with much familiar baritone
voice of Amitabh Bachachan introducing the aftermath of a treachery of
Kalingapuri. Boat of a small child (from Kottaipattinam) is capsized, who
reached Kalingapiuri. He grows to be the most reliable, dependable and fearless
warrior of Kalingapuri – Rana Ranvijay (Rajinikanth) and is being appointed as the
commander-in-chief of the army of the Kingdom of Kalingapuri ruled by the King Mahendra
Raj (Jacky Shroff). Rana Ranvijay’s entry is with a meaningful song “Aaya Khwab
ka mausam, Laaya jeet ka mausam”. After a series of victories, Rana seeks
permission from Mahendra Raj to attack Kottaipattinam. Prince of Kalingapuri
and good friend of Rana, Prince Virbhadra (Aadhi) gets convinced with Rana’s
idea to include Kottaipattinam’s enslaved soldiers in the army. Once, the
border reached, Rana changed sides, hugged his childhood friend Prince Udaybhan
(son of King Rikudaman) and asked the enslaved soldiers to come back to their
country Kottaipattinam. Although King Rikudaman welcomes Rana and the soldiers,
he could identify the younger version of Kochadaiiyaan. Rikudaman’s bewildered
and insecure face reveals that there is some mystery behind his fear.
Rana gets to meet his childhood sweetheart Princess Vadhana (Deepika Padukone). Rana learns about the death of his mother Yahavi (Shobhana), missing brother and grown-up beautiful
sister Yamuna (Rukmini) & Prince Udaybhan’s mutual love. Rana is able to
get his sister married off to the Prince with the King’s blessings in spite of
class and caste differences.
What follows afterward is a series of
incidents. What happens to Yamuna and Prince Udaybhan after their marriage? Are
they being accepted as part of the dynasty? King Rikudaman’s life is under
threat. Who is the threat to his life? Was somebody trying to take revenge? What
was the reason for the revenge? Was Rana’s motive good? What does the princess
Vadhana understand about Rana ? Who succeeds? Does Kalingapuri King Mahendra
Raj and Aadhi forgive Rana? How was the father Kochaadaiiyaan – as brave as
Rana or he was a traitor? How did he die? What bothered King Rikudaman whenever
he saw Rana? Did Rana and Vaadhna’s relationsip culminate in marriage? How does
the revenge saga between Kottaipattinam and Kalingapuri take shape? Who wins?
Does the missing brother of Rana ever come into the picture?
Although predicatable, the movie has a story
line, but the much-awaited animation affects fails to create much impact. With
the motion picture format, the characters should have looked more real.
Throughout the movie, the ‘Real’ Rajinikanth, Jacky Shroff, Nassar, Shobana,
Deepika Padukone was missed. It would have been great to see the chemistry
between Father Rajinikanth and wife Shobhana and son Rajinikanth and lover
Deepika Padukone. The chemistry between them failed to generate any emotional
connect since they looked merely ‘animated’. But yes, the chariots, elephants
looked more real.
There are too many songs in the movie. Two
songs are meaningful, but rest of the songs fail to create much impact. The
highlight of the movie is the father Rajinikanth’s (A Shiva Devotee) Tandav
dance. Rajinikanth fans won’t be disappointed since there is enough of
recreation of Rajinikanth’s actions.
The movie might have looked magnificent
in ‘real’ live action format. Still, kudos to Saundarya and the team of
Kochadaiiyaan for keeping this one step towards alternative mode of filmmaking.
I wish, what Amitabh Bachchan said could have been true i.e. In History of
Hindi cinema, it would be written, ‘Before Kochadaiiyaan’ and ‘After
Kochadaiiyaan’.
Kochadaiiyaan,
meant exclusively for Rajini fans, fails to impress as an animated movie.
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