If you plan to watch Star (2001), be prepared to suspend
your disbelief. It’s the sort of movie where people make sudden,
strange, and arbitrary decisions, and stick with those decisions no
matter what. For instance, when District Collector Ramnathan
(Vijaykumar) has the brother of a notorious terrorist arrested, the
terrorist responds by kidnapping a random child who happened to have
been in the paper for winning a swimming competition. The terrorist
murders the boy (horribly) and leaves a tape threatening to do the same
thing to Ramnathan’s own son Santosh, and Ramnathan folds instantly. At
that point, the boy’s father, Dhanushkodi (Raghuvaran), vows that he
will kill Santosh himself, and he makes that vow in the presence of
several armed police officers. Ramnathan can see no possible way to
protect his son from a lone grieving father, so he secretly ships his
son out of the country and tells everyone (including his wife) that
Santosh has disappeared.
Eighteen years later, we meet our hero, Murthy (Prashanth.) Murthy is a professional scapegoat; when someone gets into minor legal trouble but doesn’t want to go to jail, or when the police need a particular case cleared in a hurry, he will take the blame and serve the jail time. It’s not such a bad life; the sentences are usually short, Murthy has a very comfortable cell reserved, and the police are eager to stay on his good side, since he’s such a boon to their conviction records. As a street smart orphan, Murthy naturally has a heart of gold; he won’t protect truly hardened criminals, and when an Eve-teasing case turns out to be more serious than he was led to believe, he personally beats up the man responsible, and then drags him to the courthouse.
Murthy decides to quit the scapegoat business the moment Preethi (Jyothika) enters his life. Preethi is an amateur gadfly; when Murthy meets her, she’s walking down the city streets, alone, at midnight, while daring the people she meets to steal her jewelry. Murthy promptly falls for her, but she is more annoyed than interested, at least until he saves her from a gang of rapists. (Yes, again. But at least in this movie they’re not random wandering rapists. They’re rickshaw drivers, one of whom has a specific grudge against Preethi.)
Almost as soon as the pair declare their love for one another, Preethi’s father drags her home without even giving her a chance to say goodbye. A distraught Murthy searches for her while trying to avoid hordes of overly enthusiastic potential clients. While hiding out at a wedding, he bumps into Ramnathan, and the plot starts coming together.
Ramnathan has a problem. Santosh (Pravinkanth), deprived of a mother’s love, has become a whiny, drug addicted mess, but Ramnathan can’t simply bring him home, because Dhanushkodi has grown his hair out and become a crime lord. When he learns about Murthy’s job as a scapegoat, he has an idea; he’ll hire Murthy to impersonate his son, Dhanoshkodi can kill Murthy, apparently gaining his revenge, and then he can take his wife and son and live somewhere else. Naturally, he does not tell Murthy all this; instead, he spins a story about wanting a substitute son to help his grieving wife. Murthy initially refuses, until he discovers that Preethi is Ramnathan’s niece, and has been engaged since birth to his missing son.
At first, the plan seems to go well. The faux-Santosh gets an elaborate public welcome, and Dhanushkodi notices and dispatches goons to kill him. Unfortunately, Ramnathan failed to account for Murthy being a badass. Murthy refuses to die, and while he lives he becomes more and more a part of the family. To make matters worse, Santosh runs off to find his father, and promptly befriends the first person he meets, Dhanushkodi.
If you’re willing to accept the fact that no one in the movie possesses the capacity for rational thought, Star is very entertaining. The hero and heroine are charming. The fight scenes are gleefully unrealistic; at one point Murthy participates in two entirely separate fights at the same time. The songs show a similar level of inventive energy, with elaborate dances and colorful costumes. (I’m especially fond of the disco ninjas wearing CDs around their necks.) It’s a great time as long as you don’t insist on your movies making sense.
Eighteen years later, we meet our hero, Murthy (Prashanth.) Murthy is a professional scapegoat; when someone gets into minor legal trouble but doesn’t want to go to jail, or when the police need a particular case cleared in a hurry, he will take the blame and serve the jail time. It’s not such a bad life; the sentences are usually short, Murthy has a very comfortable cell reserved, and the police are eager to stay on his good side, since he’s such a boon to their conviction records. As a street smart orphan, Murthy naturally has a heart of gold; he won’t protect truly hardened criminals, and when an Eve-teasing case turns out to be more serious than he was led to believe, he personally beats up the man responsible, and then drags him to the courthouse.
Murthy decides to quit the scapegoat business the moment Preethi (Jyothika) enters his life. Preethi is an amateur gadfly; when Murthy meets her, she’s walking down the city streets, alone, at midnight, while daring the people she meets to steal her jewelry. Murthy promptly falls for her, but she is more annoyed than interested, at least until he saves her from a gang of rapists. (Yes, again. But at least in this movie they’re not random wandering rapists. They’re rickshaw drivers, one of whom has a specific grudge against Preethi.)
Almost as soon as the pair declare their love for one another, Preethi’s father drags her home without even giving her a chance to say goodbye. A distraught Murthy searches for her while trying to avoid hordes of overly enthusiastic potential clients. While hiding out at a wedding, he bumps into Ramnathan, and the plot starts coming together.
Ramnathan has a problem. Santosh (Pravinkanth), deprived of a mother’s love, has become a whiny, drug addicted mess, but Ramnathan can’t simply bring him home, because Dhanushkodi has grown his hair out and become a crime lord. When he learns about Murthy’s job as a scapegoat, he has an idea; he’ll hire Murthy to impersonate his son, Dhanoshkodi can kill Murthy, apparently gaining his revenge, and then he can take his wife and son and live somewhere else. Naturally, he does not tell Murthy all this; instead, he spins a story about wanting a substitute son to help his grieving wife. Murthy initially refuses, until he discovers that Preethi is Ramnathan’s niece, and has been engaged since birth to his missing son.
At first, the plan seems to go well. The faux-Santosh gets an elaborate public welcome, and Dhanushkodi notices and dispatches goons to kill him. Unfortunately, Ramnathan failed to account for Murthy being a badass. Murthy refuses to die, and while he lives he becomes more and more a part of the family. To make matters worse, Santosh runs off to find his father, and promptly befriends the first person he meets, Dhanushkodi.
If you’re willing to accept the fact that no one in the movie possesses the capacity for rational thought, Star is very entertaining. The hero and heroine are charming. The fight scenes are gleefully unrealistic; at one point Murthy participates in two entirely separate fights at the same time. The songs show a similar level of inventive energy, with elaborate dances and colorful costumes. (I’m especially fond of the disco ninjas wearing CDs around their necks.) It’s a great time as long as you don’t insist on your movies making sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment