Indian retail comes of age !

When we were kids we were taken for a short 1 day or mostly half a day trips/picnics in school bus , one class at a time to some place inside the city. Aim was to have an outing and give kids a chance to learn and experience things outside their classrooms and books , the places you were taken to used to depend on how old you were. I remember going to see factories which had big machines , centers of science research , planetarium , parks , zoo , museums etc ( depending on what was available in the area). As you grew older , longer outings were planned for a few days with visits to some good holiday spot or a big city , but all these visits had at least one 'industrial visit' as part of the tour to ensure that parents are convinced that kids not only have fun , but also 'learn' something !

Last week , I had visited Bangalore and had to get a few essential household items , so decided to go to a Big Bazaar outlet nearby. This wasn't such a big outlet , it did have ground floor and first floor but this was by far the smallest store i have seen of the retail chain. Guess they have a store every few kms in B'lore . Now as we were entering , my mom and I noticed a long line of young students wearing blue and white uniform with a badge which proclaimed that they were from a school nearby gathering patiently outside the store ; We went in and saw a couple of teachers talking to someone inside the store. We were doing our shopping when we noticed the students entering slowly in a single file ,with teacher in tow constantly reminding them to be quiet and only to look and not touch what is on display. They went slowly through almost all aisles on both floors and were stopped once a while by teachers who kept explaining something And within 15-20 min they had covered the store and slowly moved out. The kids were apparently made 'aware' of super markets , how various items were stocked and got to observe how 'buying and selling' happened in markets !

Guess Indian retail industry really has come of age if 8 year olds are taken to educative field trips in middle class shopping centers ! Big Bazaar has joined the factories , reservoirs , museums as place to observe and learn for kids !!! This is probably a good indicator of how we have changed as a society , i remember things didn't look very rosy initially for organized retail , but slowly but steadily it has surely caught on with Indian middle class !

Enthiran - an experience !

Rajni movies have long ceased to be just a 'movie' .... its an event , almost like a festival in TN. This time whole national media seem to have woken up to it and have covered it in excruciating detail , so there is nothing more to be said on that front !

Context is everything , even in movies getting a perspective of where the movie is set and the reasons why it is made / who the movie is addressing helps in a little in appreciating the movie IMO. Rajni movies follow a certain story arc , contain a few staple items which make the day for die-hard fans , pack a little extra for normal viewers also and the sheer screen presence of the man takes care of the rest. There is always less logic and more magic . These movies are a showcase for the biggest star in the country and little else. So when he teamed with a good big-budget movie maker like Shankar last time , i felt we might get something more than a usual Rajni movie . We didnt , we did get a good value for money masala movie showcasing Rajni well , but this time they have made amends and how !

There are two kinds of science fiction in the world of cinema , really classy ones which are more concerned with the ideas and impact of these on the world and explore them and then there is the more commercial twin of sci-fi movies , the ones which use sci-fi as one the key plot devices but are basically entertainers , these are sci-fi movies made for masses. Enthiran is a very well made sci-fi mass movie . The movie is a story of a humanoid-android trying to fit in in to society , explored how emotions are the what distinguishes us from them and what could happen if that is changed unleashing sociological complications and unleashing of a Frankenstein like monster ! But this sci-fi drama has been embellished with enough masala content , situated in a good vs evil drama populated with some classic tamil movie characters in 'good' and 'noble' hearted hero and his lady love ( Aishwarya looking really awesome ) and with the brilliant as usual music by ARR unfurled on screen in usual Shankar fashion with most exotic locations and brilliant explosion of color

Shankar the director has delivered this time , setting up the canvas by staying true to sci-fi story and breaking technology down for masses. The Pros and Cons of Robots / Androids devoid of emotion are put across well and the special effects are the best ever for any Indian movie and is close to Hollywood standard !

Again the movie is what it is only because of one man , the superstar who appears in 3 roles in the movie. The good scientist who creates the robot intending it a machine which will save huma lives , the Robot Chitti played neatly Rajni which moves from machine to almost human ( neatly done ! ) and finally the best of the lot - the evil robot played brilliantly by Rajni. He seemed to have lapped up the chance to finally unleash some meanness and everything from the look to the famous 'walk' and the climatic showdown (aided hugely by brilliant conceived by Special effects ) make it a great performance. The movie is a great showcase for him and he is simply outstanding and shines in every frame he is in. Aishwarya looks great and does what is needed from heroine in Rajni movie !

The roles of villian (Danny) and comedians (Santhanam and Karunas) are wasted as Rajni did both with ease . Minor quibbles involve the length of the movie overall , could have been 15-20 minute shorter . I know im nit-picking but I wish they could remove a few songs as they seemed to be hampering the flow rather than adding any value. "Kilimanjaro" song was a good brilliantly shot but i felt it wasnt helping the story at all ! Also the fight sequences , though well executed seemed to drag a bit too long . Shankar seems to have done a bit of self reference with mention of a song in Jeans to describe Aishwarya Rai's beauty and reference to Mudhalvan slipped in ! But overall good stuff easily outweigh the bad and makes it a really good watch. I simply loved a few lines like 'nakkal - nickel ' and also that scene during a fight in first half when Robot-Rajni becomes magnetic and pulls all metal and becomes a God !

All in all a great entertainer , the Indian Avatar if you will ! 160 cr is a lot of money , I dont know how easy it will be to replicate such movies , but if this movie works ( it should ) then we can hope for more sci-fi movies and other high tech movies which will push the envelope and tell more entertaining and visually amazing stories. The economics of movie business has changed of late with new markets abroad and higher prices from multiplexes and release across the world - this movie is supposedly released at 2000 theaters world wide. Still the budget is really big for an Indian movie esp regional movie , very few stars have the power to pull off something like this and carry it through. Only way for such movies to work is to make it the way this one is made with something for classes and for the masses .This one was totally worth every rupee spent by the makers and more than worth the ticket price for audience . Can Ra.One and others do the same ? Lets hope it happens and we get more such entertainment spectacles.