DARBAR TAMIL REVIEW

Let’s get it clear from the go, Darbar is a celebration of Rajinikanth the star, the phenomenon, the craze, definitely not the actor he has proven himself to be through the years. Because even before the film gets into the thick of things, the star gets ample time to show off his fighting skills (complete with katana swords), bouncy hair, dance moves, animated gestures, punch dialogues, a wide array of sunglasses and more, all set to Anirudh Ravichander’s rousing BGM that is so Rajinikanth, you know the music we’re talking about.

Aaditya Arunachalam (Rajinikanth) is transferred to Mumbai from Delhi to put an end to the drug menace plaguing the city and clean up the police department’s reputation they lost 27 years ago thanks to psychotic gangster Hari Chopra (Sunil Shetty). While there, he finds how the drug mafia even indulges in trafficking of underage girls and catches Ajay Malhotra (Prateik Babbar) red-handed. But soon, tragedy hits Aaditya’s life when someone close to him is taken away from him. How he narrows down the culprit is what Darbar is all about on the surface.

But underneath that it’s the story of a man who’s been pushed to the edge and finds it difficult to walk back from. The opening scene in particular with members of the Human Rights Commission establishes as to how far the man, who already has no time to play by the rule book, is really gone due to grief. Nivetha Thomas plays Aaditya’s loving daughter Valli with a kind of earnestness it makes it hard not to connect with her. She’s the only family he has left and his whole world. The scenes between them are what drive the film and the actress is stellar in her role.

There’s also Yogi Babu as the faithful sidekick and Nayanthara as the gorgeous girlfriend, but they’re massively underutilised in a film that only has eyes for Thalaiva and Thalaiva only. Sunil Shetty’s character too gets built up so much that when the final confrontation comes around, it proves to be more bark than bite.

Any Rajinikanth fan will be able to predict how this story goes, they will also be able to predict how the star will show off his skills on-screen at any given moment. But Darbar has its moments that are pure delight. Despite Anirudh Ravichander’s songs not passing muster in Telugu, the number Thalaiva In Charge runs in the background of key scenes and works, so does the BGM. There’s also a fight scene at a train station in particular involving Rajinikanth, Nivetha Thomas, a group of singing hijras and goons where Rajinikanth fights and dances, and yet Murugadoss somehow manages to pull it off!

Rajinikanth and Nivetha Thomas let it rip in this one and Murugadoss makes the best use of it despite the predictable story that goes from light-hearted to heavy. Go watch Darbar if you’re a fan of either of the actors, just don’t go in expecting Rajinikanth the actor, you will not be disappointed.