Spyder - Movie Review (Tamil Version)

Caught the First Day show of Spyder in Cinemark Lincoln Square in US with my friend DR. I have always liked AR Murgadoss's movies. He tackles interesting subject matters in his movie like vigilante style student activism against corruption in Ramanaa, short-term amnesia in Ghajini, a do good chain in Stalin, the history of Indian martial arts in 7 Aum Arivu, terrorist sleeper cells in Thuppaki, farmers suicides in Kaththi. His attempt to make a female oriented movie in Akira however turned out to be a dud.

There was an anticipation in the air with Spyder, it is a first collaboration between Murgadoss and Mahesh Babu. The film was being made bilingually in Telugu & Tamil to cater to two of the biggest audience markets in India. The movie had a bumper opening in the US and the story was interesting enough to keep the audiences engaged enough for a long time.

The movie teaser when it released gave the feeling that it was some kind of save the world spy thriller James Bondesque. I had not read any other material about this movie other than watching the teaser and was under the impression that this would be a global scale spy thriller, but it was not the case and I was very much surprised and then intrigued by the tone of the movie.

Tamil/Telegu movies are used to the lead actor appearing in a flash of glory on the screen like jumping through the roof or running hard at some object, so it was a toned down entry for the hero - Shiva where he introduces himself by narrating what led him to the point in the story. Mahesh Babu has dubbed for himself in Tamil and he speaks it well enough for a Tam-Brahm like me to understand.

The hero - Shiva is a laid back, cool kind of guy who likes to do good in the world. He is a member of the Intelligence Bureau of India who works from the shadows to keep the citizens of the country safe. A certified geek he has developed his own software 'SPYDER' which monitors voice calls made in the city and flags any incident where the speaker calls for help. It is a call like this which puts Shiva on the trail of a murdering psychopath called Sudalai.

What follows is a cat and mouse game between the two, I will not go into that but rather I would like to go into the tonal content of the movie.

Shiva and Sudalai are two facets of one of the Supreme Gods of the Hindu trinity Lord Shiva. Shiva in his purest form is the ultimate protector and Sudalai in his form is the destroyer. Sudalai - the name itself means cemetery. So it comes as no secret that the antagonist is born in a cemetery while somebody is wailing for the loss of their dear ones. Growing up in such an environment brings out the sadistic personality traits in Sudalai where he likes playing with the human skull and bones found in the cemetery and this grows further when he seeks enjoyment in hearing the grief and heart rending cries of the people mourning the loss of their loved ones. When there is a dull period at the cemetery when people stop dying, the young Sudalai is not able to bear the loss of his happiness and this is where the murdering aspects of his personality starts emerging.

The young kid who played Sudalai in the movie was menacing and convincing enough in his potrayal of such an personality that I gave me the creeps while watching those parts of the movie. SJ Suryah as the grown up Sudalai is a class act. His portrayal is absolutely mesmerizing to watch on screen. He totally imbibes the traits of a sadistic person who kills because he can and takes pleasure in watching the destruction around him.

While the ending comes across along on the expected lines, the movies takes care not to go too much over the top. Mahesh Babu puts in a measured and restrained performance where he lets his character to do the talking, we see Shiva on the screen, not Mahesh Babu with his bombastic dialogues. You can relate to the do gooder in him. Rakul Preet Singh is wasted in her role. The romance and songs between the lead pair comes more as a distractions to the game being played between Shiva and Sudalai. It takes away from the movie rather than adding to it.

Indian cinema is still a way off where it leaves the songs and dance behind when not needed. But the return of strong villains is a good trend as over the past few years we have had a strong antagonist almost disappear from the large screen due to the obeisance that the industry pays to its heroes.

The emergence of Siddharth Abhimanyu, Palvalthevan, Sudalai is a step in the right direction. AR Murgadoss has delivered a tight entertainer with this one. Catch the movie - it is worth the price of the admission ticket.