there were two lines, both equally long, but nicely separated out into the ‘tamil’ line and the ‘telugu’ queues. outside the theater in milpitas that no regular desi would otherwise knew existed behind a ‘big lots’ store, which was probably showing a movie to a crowd that is not a pack of rats, was a bustle and a parking lot jam like no other.
not since i drove 2 hours from sacramento to fermont to watch ‘hum aap ke hein kaun’ in 1995, was watching a movie ‘an event’. mostly guys, but occasional momma’s, maami’s and grandmommas sticking it out through the night for a 11:45 showing of enthiran and robot. me and wife, i guess, could claim to still have caught the show on the day of it’s release : yeah it’s something you tell your grandkids.
and it’s special. a rajni movie demands respect – and a big realization that it’s OK to appreciate something just because people love it.
and people love the man because he portrays the aspirational elements of his audience with unabashed earthiness to the presentation. an ugly man pimping up with leather-and-shades. a vulnerable man with confidence that knows no boundaries. an auto-rikshaw driver that salutes no one. one that can’t dance for nuts, romancing to a gorgeous lady. bloke that travels to machu-pichu. dark/bald man in full youthful glory. which one of us doesn’t fit one of those buckets?
people don’t have any illusion of the man that’s different from the on-screen-mega-man. and that’s why over-the-top works! goes down smooth, without the need to for the audience to expend the mental energy of parsing the subtleties. there is something about the least common denominator that is simple and beautiful.
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