From the brains which had enthralled us through the sizzling and action-packed 'Ghajini', 'Ramana', 'Kathi', 'Thuppaki', SPYder is yet another rip-roaring flick which fails to roar but literally rips us apart like Lord Narasimha tearing apart the viscerals of the Demon King!
If you ask me a forthright and outright question as to whether was it so bad, my equally direct and unequivocal answer is a straight-forward 'Yes'.
What went wrong? Before answering this question, we will see what was right in he first place as there were far too less when compared to the former.
SJ SURYAH (SJS). The one coruscating factor who really ensured that SPYder was at least going on the rails if not on the right track. Man! And Woman! He showed us all that 'Iraivi' wasn't a one-time wonder but he had the resources in him to pull off yet another mind-blasting role with finesse, flair and aplomb. Right from the first scene where he's introduced in a Scare-crow-ish mask till the climax, he was truly sadomasochistic in every spirit of the letter of the word especially prior to the interval block where he gives an astounding performance with his lips murmuring. The only sad part was that instead of focusing on his devious and diabolical exploits to the ultimate max like Heath Ledger in 'The Dark Knight', SJS is reduced to a caricature in the final action sequence just to ensure that the hero comes out on top. With a terrific character played by SJS, it's high time that the Kollywood script writers actually give us an ambiguous ending like 'The Birdman' or 'Inception' for anti-heroes like SJS who poured out his soul to give soul to the sinister and Satanic villain rather than making him a buffoon so as to give a halo over the hero's head!
Okay. Right things are over. Let's divert and concentrate our attention to the negatives. In Detail.
1) Songs - Just like 'Acham Yenbadu Madamayada', all the songs are tightly packed into the first half itself like the soldiers in Dunkirk! I don't know about Tollywood but none of the songs were even listen-worthy in Tamil. It was more of a head sore than a pleasant outing for the music director. In Tamil. The movie's pace would have been speedier had it not for the pot-holed numbers to showcase the actor's dancing talents. Confused to bits as to who gave such an appalling ear ache, I was horrified to know it was Harris Jayaraj who had given mesmerizing hits as '12B', 'Minnale', 'Lesa Lesa', 'Anniyan', 'Varanam Ayiram' etc. I'm not sure about the Telugu audience. But, SPYder's songs certainly didn't gel with the Tamil cinema goers (Read: Me).
2) Run Time - The first half was better than the second half in terms of the screen swiftness. Post interval, it was like we needed Superman to push the time forward so as not to get stuck with the visual stupidity in the name of stunts. It was never-ending like the expansion of the Universe!
3) Story & Screenplay - To merely having a social message embedded into the script before the end credits rolled up and giving crappy 150 minute of testing the patience is like dressing a cherry on top of a cake that tasted sweet but the whole cake was pathetic! However, there were really good and intelligent moments in SPYder like the Pizza man, ambulance etc. rushing to Mahesh Babu's house when SJS was on the prowl in his house or the software analyzing the sentiment of the voice during the calls or co-coordinating with the local house wives to save the family from the clutches of SJS. Nevertheless, a few chunky moments cannot be a reasonable justification to make everyone to moan and groan in agony as to when would the film get over!
4) Mahesh Babu - Yes. Yes. He has the magnetic appeal. Fit physique. Going beyond his handsome nature, he delivers every dialogue with such a monotony and a dead pan expression that he would have given the History teachers in schools a run for their money! Whether all his movies are of this cadre or it was due to AR Murugadoss's insistence for this film, I don't know.
5) Action Sequences - The lesser said the best! Exclusive mentions to the Sonic The Hedge Hog style run by Mahesh Babu to contact his lady love for a crucial information. Einstein and Newton would have been tearing each other's heads apart to come up with special equations to explain the gigantic boulder being stopped by a puny Road Construction machine. Also, it was a really a good thing that Mahesh Babu didn't transform into a Baahubali-esque stature to throw off the massive rolling rock from the road to save the people.
So, that's it.
Eventually, SPYder creates and casts a web that could have been slick and engaging. Unfortunately, the only engagement which the movie received in the theatres was witty comments and smashing one-liners from the viewers which were more fun than the comedy in the film. I got my money's value by constantly chirping in with my own set of wisecracks that left me with the feeling that I didn't lose my sleep and my time's worth. As the movie was coming to a close, all that was left to do was to run out of the theater like how Mahesh Babu did!
PS:
RJ Balaji did a fantastic job in his extremely limited screen time. He was as much underused as SJS.
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