Movie Review - (Rating -3.5/5)

To all people who are ignorant of the technical brilliance, strength and box-office stamina of South Indian movies, Rajini’s Robo is the answer.

All credit goes to Shankar for his imagination and near perfect execution. Robot is arguably India’s Avatar and Shankar India’s James Cameroon. With never seen before special effects (animatronics), which of course cannot be truly termed international, but certainly a giant leap as far as Indian cinema is concerned, Robot leaves you spellbound for most part of the 3-hour visual extravaganza.

The best part of the movie is it goes straight to the point. It is all about a robot and the director never deviates from it. Unlike his previous flick Sivaji, Shankar refrains from forced comedy and focuses more on showcasing Robot’s abilities and reflexes. As the robot too is Rajinikanth, it's more like good Rajini vs bad Rajini. This also lessened dependency on animatronics and gives you feel of Shankar's Jeans or other movies where the hero plays dual role. That's brilliance for you. But this brilliance slowly fades away toward the end as he overuses/misuses the technology, making it an average flick for the multiplex audience.

True to his superstar tag, Rajinikanth is the movie’s strength. Rajini is super cool as scientist and robot. Rajini’s action as corrupted robot is a treat to watch. Shah Rukh Khan and Kamal Hassan, who rejected the project, are sure to regret now. The only complaint is Rajini’s dances, which are really disappointing, especially in the song Kilimanjaro. But Aishwarya Rai seems to have reserved her best dance moves for Robot. She is gorgeous and her dance movements in I Robo and Kilimanjaro are amazing. She brings grace, grandeur and completeness to this high-budget movie.

A R Rahman’s music is of international standards in the first half, but becomes unbearable in the latter part of second half. It’s too loud and the background score during the action sequences seems disconnected.

The climax could have been made interesting rather than going berserk with hundreds of robots forming different physical structures. The director could have taken a cue from The Lost World Jurassic Park on how to derive maximum impact from an alien character in a movie. The scenes where the dinosaur creates havoc in the city were so carefully executed that the audience crave for more. But Shankar goes out of control and creates huge trouble for our senses. Despite the breathtaking visual effects, the climax is surely a punishment.

My top scenes:
1. Robot posing like goddess Durga during a tiff with local goons
2. Robot’s confrontation with his creator to win Aishwarya Rai
3. Corrupt robot recharging when electricity is switched off and the way it finds Rajinikanth (human) among hundred similar looking robots
4. The delivery scene before interval
5. Robot’s explanation of why God exists

Robot is not a must watch but I surely recommend just for Shankar's brilliant effort.