Director AR Murugadoss’s Darbar starring Rajinikanth, Suneil Shetty and Nivetha Thomas is a typical Thalaivar outing with logic going amiss, says our review.

Whenever a Rajinikanth film hits the screens, it’s a celebration in itself. His ardent fans flock to the theatres, worship him, adore him and celebrate his film. And when a filmmaker like AR Murugadoss, who is a self-proclaimed fan of Rajinikanth, directs a film featuring him, it becomes a joyous ode to Superstar. And that was what Darbar is.

Hari Chopra (Suneil Shetty) brutally kills a bunch of policemen in Mumbai and flees the country to become one of the biggest drug dealers in the world. Meanwhile, Aaditya Arunasalam (Rajinikanth) and his daughter Valli (Nivetha Thomas) come to Mumbai where the former takes up the job of freeing the city from the hands of drug dealers. As he is halfway through his mission, Aaditya and Hari’s paths meet. What follows is a typical revenge story.

Unlike the underwhelming trailer, Darbar has a lot of substance in terms of script, which makes it a watchable affair. Director AR Murugadoss’s idea of making a cop with grey shades works to a great extent, thanks to Rajinikanth’s brilliant rendition of Aaditya Arunasalam.

The film starts off in a solid manner with the proper establishment of the story. Add to it Rajinikanth’s antics, his infectious energy and epic comic timing, and Darbar’s first half is a perfect treat to Rajinikanth’s diehard fans.

However, as the story progresses, AR Murugadoss kisses logic goodbye and lets his characters shoot people or get shot without any trace of repercussions. Rajinikanth’s character Aaditya is a ‘bad cop’ as he says, but one cannot encounter’ a person inside a prison on the pretext of self-defence. Even though the audiences are willing to look past the logic, such instances which are aplenty in the film, put you off completely.

What AR Murugadoss gets right is the emotional bonding between Aaditya Arunasalam and his daughter Valli. When Aaditya is with his daughter, he is at his personal best. He is not just a dad, but a best friend too to his daughter. And their performances hit you hard because of their near-perfect portrayal. Time and again, Nivetha Thomas proves why she is one of the best performers Kollywood has got.

Apart from the very obvious Rajini-isms, you can spot typical AR Murugadoss elements. The director makes fun, not once but twice, of Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala’s notorious behaviour in prison. Yogi Babu’s comedy timing falls flat in most places, but it’s great to see him play a character who keeps reminding the protagonist his real age. Kudos to Rajinikanth for allowing’ it to happen.

Nayanthara’s character Lilly looks ethereal. There’s not one hair out of place even when she goes jogging and it is tiring to see her look perfect 24×7. That said, her character is of no importance to the story. It looks like she was roped in just to please a certain section of the audience.

Rajinikanth’s fans have a lot to enjoy in the film, especially the Kannula Thimuru sequence. However, the way trans people are portrayed in the song is quite disturbing. In the scene, Rajinikanth offers them money even without them asking for it. They just sing praises of him and shake a leg for Rajinikanth to have his moment.

While Rajinikanth’s character has multiple layers, AR Murugadoss’s sketch for Suneil Shetty is underwhelming. The Bollywood actor has exactly one expression throughout the film and there’s not much backstory to why he becomes what he does.

The final face-off between Rajinikanth’s Aaditya and Suneil’s Hari should have ideally made the audience hoot. But, it turns out to be a sheer disappointment, to say the least. You can guess the ending a mile before it actually arrives. And for Murugadoss to make it a boring climax is absurdity at its best.

Coming to the technical aspects, cinematographer Santosh Sivan seems to have had a ball of a time. The use of colours and lens flares light up each frame and make the entire film look classy. Composer Anirudh Ravichander’s songs are a failure of epic proportions. None of the songs except for Chumma Kizhi works well on screen. The background score elevates the mood of the film, thanks to Deva’s epic score which is rehashed interestingly.

Barring a clichéd and predictable storyline, Darbar is strictly a film by a Rajinikanth fan for Thalaivar’s fans.

source: indiatoday.in/movies