Kochadaiiyaan

For all its animation gimmicks, this film feels like a cut-and-paste job

It is difficult to understand why Kochadaiiyaan needed any actors at all. The animation, in terms of movement, colour and action, is pretty well done. But it falls short when the physiognomy of an individual is etched. All the actors, including Rajinikanth and Deepika Padukone, look like they have stiff masks on, and when they conduct extended conversations with each other, the scenario reminds you of a puppet show.

There is not a trace of the persona and character of these actors. The film, therefore, fails to engage us in human terms. Add to this a convoluted tale— of a great general betrayed by the king he fights for —spanning two generations, and the movie misses its mark entirely.

Kochadaiiyaan (Rajinikanth), the noble warrior, lives in Kottaipattinam and during one of his military expeditions, his army is poisoned by the enemy. To find an antidote to save the army, he travels to the rival kingdom for help. The shrewd ruler there (Jackie Shroff) promises medical assistance, on the condition that all the ammunition and horses are left behind. Kochadaiiyaan agrees reluctantly to these terms, but when he returns home empty-handed, his jealous king, the Maharajah of Kottaipattinam (Nassar) finds in this failure a perfect pretext to have his general executed.

Many years later, the great warrior’s son, Rana Ranvijay (Rajinikanth again) continues the story…. The movie has a narrative that goes back and forth in time. In live action this could work— with definitive characters played by actors we could identify as human. But with a set of actors who have their portraits animated on masks, the whole thing looks like an advanced cut-and-paste job.

Rajinikanth does not come to life and the interweaving narrative is difficult to peg, leaving one in limbo.

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Ajit Duara