Petta Movie Review

Petta Review: Over the last few years, we've seen Rajinikanth experiment with various types of genres. The superstar has done sci-fi films (Robot series) , a motion capture animation film (Kochadaiyaan), a commercial film that turned formula into a parody (Lingaa), and dark films that brought out the actor in him (Kabali and Kaala). But Karthik Subbaraj's Petta unleashes the entertainer in Rajinikanth that made him the superstar in the first place. And that's why the film works. 

Petta's basic plot is the reinvention of Rajinikanth's biggest hit, Baasha. Karthik Subbaraj, however, keeps several variations and twists while using the Baasha template as the basic premise to avoid the risk of turning it into a predictable fare. Kaali (Rajinikanth) joins a college as its new warden and immediately has his task cut out. He soon goes about fixing things in his own playful style. He helps out a young couple in love (Megha Akash and Sanath), finds a love interest of his own in a student's mother (Simran) and puts Rowdy boys, headed by Michael (Bobby Simha) in their place. However, this isn't just a rosy, college fare as there is much more to it than meets the eye. Soon, Kaali comes head to head with Singhar Singh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a politician in Uttar Pradesh, and his son, Jithu (Vijay Sethupathi). 

Make no mistake, Petta is a crowd-pleasing film all the way and it seems like it has been made just for the fans. In fact, it feels as if the director is ticking off a wish list of fans in the movie at various places that shows the comic side of the superstar, punch dialogues, action and of course, his inimitable style. The casting of Simran and Trisha also is curious as they are two actresses whom everyone felt had missed doing a film with Rajinikanth. 

At times, watching Petta does seem like revisiting a collection of Rajinikanth's greatest hits, but nobody would complaint about that. Yes, the film does have it's issues. It drags on for a bit too long and the college sequences, especially, are an overkill. The antagonist's characters could've been written in a better way and the songs are unnecessary and jar the narrative. But Petta gives us the Thailavar that we love - in spades. It seems like Rajinikanth had fun playing the role and he shows us exactly why he is the superstar. Petta succeeds where Lingaa failed – it sticks to the formula, but it also makes it feel fresh.

Critic's Rating: 3.5/5