Annaatthe Review: An Emotionally Draining Snoozefest!

When Thalaivar Rajinikanth announced what could be his last movie with Director Siva, I, rather than being excited about it, had a mini heart attack, considering the latter’s long haul of excruciating movies with Ajith Kumar. Without any huge surprises, Siva and his team delivered a ridiculous melodrama with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient as the lead and an ensemble of supporting cast including Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, and Prakash Raj.

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Annaatthe details the story of Kalaiyan (Rajinikanth) and Thanga Meenakshi (Keerthy Suresh), siblings who were orphaned at a young age but share an undying love for each other and continue to extend on the lines of how far a brother can go for his beloved sister’s safety when she gets into trouble.

With a basic storyline, Director Siva extended Annaatthe a little too long on the emotional front, leaving us with pain, agony, and tears. I started tearing up a bit for all the incorrect reasons and not for the sentimental brother-sister sentiment. The storyline is inspired by several primetime soap operas straight out of Producer Kalanithi Maran’s own channel Sun TV Network. I’m not lying or exaggerating, it pains to say such words for a Rajinikanth film, but the truth is unavoidable.

Looking at the only positive that Annaatthe offered, the man himself, The Superstar Rajinikanth, is full of life and energy, lighting up the screen like he always does. The energy with which he portrays his character is truly astounding. He walks, runs, dances, and fights like a young adult. The amount of dedication he puts in his performance to entertain his fans, irrespective of his age, shows the love and respect towards them.

The movie runs high on his spirit and liveliness as he keeps the energy and the momentum till the end. But on the other hand, in an attempt to bring vintage Rajinikanth back, instead of opting for an Annamalai or a Muthu, Siva goes decades back to Mullum Malarum. And he never stop there and went on an emotional rampage with his sibling sentiments.

With scenes that force the emotions on you, you are left with no choice but to frown upon the disaster which the film is turning out to be, and the cringe-worthy dialogues make it even more difficult for us to digest. And to add salt to the injury, D. Imman scored some sensational background score which definitely gave me the same vibes of watching a soap opera with my mother. Thankfully, Annaatthe had several mass moments, whistle-worthy scenes which pleased the Thalaivar fan in me. But, when the movie is going down the drain, we could see less enthusiastic fans, and the overall outcome frustrated and left everyone dejected.

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To sum it up, Annaatthe starring Rajinikanth is an emotionally draining snoozefest. The overabundance of sentiments does not work well for anyone. Maybe a selective set of audiences might enjoy it, however for me, it felt like the movie went on forever, with shades of Director Siva’s earlier films.

On a sincere note, I really hope Rajinikanth does one good film before he calls it quits. The man I have adored ever since I have the first memory of watching films in theatres would give anything for a satisfying finale film. Until then, let’s brush Annaatthe off our memory and maybe re-watch his timeless classics.

‘Annaatthe’ Rating – 2/5