The word, Superstar is a pretty commonly used term world over for all big movie stars but in Tamil Nadu alone this title has hallowed status. While there have been numerous polls & debates, for the general audience (& of course me), Rajinikanth is the only Superstar. In that sense, in 2011, when he was fighting for his life owing to many ailments, unimaginable levels of adulation & reverie were evident with fans waiting with hope and prayers for every tiny weeny bit of news that came about Rajnikanth’s condition. Reports of his close mate & masterful actor Kamal Haasan incredibly pained by this development, has been well documented.

After a few months, Rajinikanth recovered but unable to take part in strenuous acting, he chose to do his daughter, Soundarya, a favour by acting in a motion-capture animation film, Kochadaiyaan under her direction with the wily K.S.Ravikumar in charge of the script. When that film did not set the box-office alight, he chose to do a quickie, Lingaa with again, K.S.Ravikumar at the helm, hoping that they can recreate the commercial magic of Muthu & Padayappa. While the hardcore fans were overwhelmed to see their demi-God back on screen, controversies and financial fiascos shrouding post release, this film proved to be a bigger disaster in terms of Box-office collections ending with Rajinikanth himself settling the losses incurred by some distributors. In summary, a near-death experience forced Rajinikanth to do a film for fans which he hoped would also be lapped up by the general public. And now a film with Shankar or Madras fame Pa. Ranjith beckons for the Superstar!

It is this very thought that came to my mind when I was watching Uttama Villain. While people were comparing the film’s context with that of Birdman or Fellini’s 8½ , I was under the impression that Kamal took this incident that happened to his close friend, as a warning for himself & made a script out of a line

What will people remember me for if I suddenly die?

To further elaborate, Kamal’s questions border on whether people will remember him as an actor or a commercial star. And who better to have in such a Meta-script than their common mentor, K. Balachander. KB Sir’s death before the film’s release looked like Kamal enacting a role-reversal in his Uttama Villain. But I’m sure even the ‘Nostradamus types’ Kamal did not think on these lines while scripting. Of course, Kamal & Rajini are incomparable having taken two different paths and it is blasphemy to compare both & indulge in an argument of who is bigger! But this thought by the master-craftsman, Kamal deserves applause for it is relevant as well as relatable.

Coming to the film, I believe Kamal the performer holds you in his gaze like a magnet that you just do not care about the happenings behind & beyond. That magnetic Kamal is in full force when he exudes charisma while performing as the Hero Manoranjan who informs/consoles his near & dear of his illness. We get to see space given to M.S.Bhaskar & of course KB Sir (in a voice sounding eerily similar to that of Nagesh) and they too mesmerize. The movie’s emotion quotient drops in the ‘film inside the film’ portions staying faithful to Manoranjan’s intent of making a film which allows everyone to leave the halls with smiles (Ellarum Sirichi kitte poganum Sir). The attempt to provide a stage-play-esque satirical dry humour involving word play & tongue twisters would have probably looked better, with Crazy Mohan on board. It would have been even better if the period plot itself could have been more serious. Having said that, even in these perceptibly slow moving portions there are subtexts aplenty in the dialogues & set pieces.

Overall, a fine experimental A Center targeted venture from Kamal that connects well emotionally. And yes, it is a tribute of sorts to KB, immortalizing him, but I think & hope it is a wake-up call for our stars as to how they want to be remembered as? An Actor or a Star?

Column written by Anand Sethuraman.