Annaathe - fraternal piety

Annaatthe

2021, Tamil

 

Written and Directed by Siva

 

Stars Rajinikanth, Nayanthara,Keerthi Suresh, Soori, Abhimanyu Singh

 

Mohan's Measure ⭐

The one star I have given is for the legendary Thalaivar, because his style, his swag, his philosophy, is as impressive as in any of his other movies.  Indeed, if Annaatthe had been just about him and his well-intended antics in Soorakottai, this movie would have been a commercial and critical success.

 

Unfortunately, Siva's writing is about as bad as his direction, so we the audience are hurled around to every convoluted idea his small brain could come up with. In the process we are introduced to every villainous actor and 80s diva that Rajini had the pleasure of acting with, all in the hopes of inciting interest from every language group this movie is being dubbed in.

 

The plot, if you can call it that, involves the empathetic - perhaps even psychic - relationship that exists between a brother and his sister, and how this stirs up a whole lot of trouble for the bad guys.   

 

The problem is the bad guys are so badly prepared for their characters, they are less villains than cartoon characters.  So too are the lead actresses, both of whom are given no time nor direction to have anything close to a personality.

 

Adding even less personality are Khushboo and Meena, who are brought back for bit roles and trite, repetitive humor, neither of which does anything to help an already failing story.

 

I will have to repeat myself in saying I absolutely do not want our Tamil Superstar to ever retire.  Director Siva should retire, though, because his brain certainly did when making this movie.