19. Petta; movie review

PETTA
Cert 12A
170 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, injury detail

When I was a student, the hostel's caretaker/warden spent most of his time in a room watching either a small black and white TV or listening to the radio.
Occasionally, if we were up, playing Space Invaders until 4am in the common room, he might be spotted 'doing his rounds'.
He certainly didn't sing and dance, have luxuriant hair and have a cackled laugh to accompany a Colgate smile.
And he definitely would not have taken on a crowd of angry interlopers single-handed. That would have been the police's job.
But he wasn't Rajinikanth!
The Tamil cinema hero might be 68 but his screen persona can beat up 20 thugs and not turn a hair of his luxuriant locks (well, probably because he wears a wig).
Here, he plays the all-singing and dancing hostel warden who stamps out bullying and sees off anyone who gives his charges a hard time.
And he does this at the same time as carrying around a transistor radio which plays old film tunes.
The first half of Kartik Subbaraj's film is centred on university life and the disgruntlement of the bullies being shoved off their perch.
Meanwhile, it transpires that some thugs are targeting one particular student (Sananth Reddy) who has fallen in love with the daughter (Megha Akash) of a holistic healer (Simran).
And, as coincidence would have it (or not), this lad has a very close link to our hero's past.
Typically of masala movies, Petta then goes from a relatively light 'entertainer' to something far more sinister with guns blazing and even bodies aplenty.
I had to giggle at one point when the obsession of the Indian cinema with warning signs saw the obligatory 'drinking is injurious to health' come up during a gunfight.
There was no mention that bullets are injurious to health.
I digress. Petta is a classic superstar vehicle - showing off all of Rajinikanth's talents beneath a luxuriant hairpiece.
It is pretty straightforward good against evil with a sprinkling of romance and a couple of very impressive if violent twists.
I can see why Tamil audiences are going for it.

Reasons to watch: Rajinikanth's superstar vehicle
Reasons to avoid: Some of the fight scenes are laughable overblown

Laughs: A couple of chuckles from me, many more from the audience
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? Rajinikanth first took up acting when he was a bus conductor in Bangalore.

The final word - Karthik Subbaraj: "I grew up watching Rajini sir. Once I started making films, I wanted him to see my work. That happened with Pizza. He also liked my work in Jigarthanda, and that was when I met him for the first time. Rajini sir told me to come to him with a good script. I took it seriously and started working on Petta." Scroll