Directors Suresh Krissna and KS Ravikumar should be highly indebted to “Siruthai” Siva. If not for the latter’s Annaatthe (2021), the two veteran filmmakers would have had to battle it out among themselves for the award for the most appalling Rajinikanth film ever. Although ‘Thalaivar’ has created his fair share of duds over the decades, Suresh’s Baba (2002) and Ravikumar’s Lingaa (2014) are in a league of their own.

Thanks to Siva’s Annaatthe — though he later outdid himself with the even more dreadful Kanguva (2024) — the veteran directors could heave a sigh of relief. Just imagine… how ironic it would have been that Suresh and Ravikumar, who created Baashha (1995) and Padayappa (1999), respectively — two of Rajinikanth’s most celebrated movies even now — are also noted as the ones to give ‘Thalaivar’ his biggest letdowns.

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The Lingaa story

While one could cut Baba some slack, as it disappointed the audience due to its highly spiritual theme and because it did not feature what people typically expect in a Rajinikanth film, Lingaa was a proper letdown, as it had everything for a “superstar movie.” From a massive budget and gorgeous heroines significantly younger than the hero to an ambitious story, melodramatic moments, comedic tracks, and a “Rajinikanth vs all the villains” narrative, Lingaa had it all to be a typical ‘Thalaivar’ mass masala. But the movie instead unknowingly exposed the hollowness of that template.

Lingaa (Rajinikanth) is a small-time thief who commits petty crimes to make a living. But circumstances take him to the small village of Solaiyur, where people still highly regard his grandfather, civil engineer Raja Lingeswaran (also played by Rajinikanth), for building a dam that is essential to their existence. However, both the dam and the village’s existence are now in jeopardy, and people believe only Raja Lingeswaran’s heir can save them. Although uninterested at first, Lingaa eventually has a change of heart and sets out to be their saviour.

Even if it’s not exceptional, a movie’s opening should at least be decent. However, Lingaa opens with an overview of the dam, where its poor visual effects are immediately apparent, almost foreshadowing what’s to unfold. After the unimpactful opening, Rajinikanth makes his entrance in a mediocre song where the visuals and setting appear far too similar to those of Sivaji: The Boss’ (2007) hit track “Style.” Making matters worse is the subsequent poorly-crafted comedic scenes that fail to elicit any laughter.

Whenever he is in trouble, Lingaa starts thinking hard while twisting his hair, an action his gangmates describe as him winding up his brain. It’s unfortunate that a hitmaker like Ravikumar thought this would appear cool.

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It’s hard to say what’s worse: the cringeworthy romantic scenes featuring Rajinikanth and Anushka Shetty, who is 31 years younger than him, or Thalaivar’s makeup, which is so disastrous that throughout Lingaa’s scenes, it feels as if Rajinikanth supplied only his head for the movie and the rest was created with CGI.

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AR Rahman’s soulless songs and background score only make the action drama worse.

Even Rajinikanth’s voice sounds so weird that one can’t blame someone for doubting whether it’s computer-generated or dubbed by someone else.

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An ambitious premise ruined by shoddy execution

According to , Lingaa is inspired by the life of renowned British civil engineer John Pennycuick, who built the Mullaperiyar dam. While this premise has potential, the shoddy writing and even shoddier filmmaking, where a large number of scenes appear packed with unplanned and hence poor VFX, ruin its possibilities.

Just take a look at Raja Lingeswaran’s intro scene, where he fights a bunch of rivals. The train he travels in looks pretty much like a toy train, with even the dark clouds above appearing unpolished.

Although Raja Lingeswaran’s scenes are set in the pre-Independence era, the way the people talk sounds as if they have time-travelled from the present. Despite production designer Sabu Cyril’s efforts to establish the era well, Ravikumar’s directionless making ruins them, tarnishing the visual quality.

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Lingaa makes things even weirder than the Rajinikanth-Anushka romance by casting Sonakshi Sinha, who is about 37 years younger than the superstar, opposite him in Raja Lingeswaran’s scenes. Here, too, the male and female leads have zero chemistry.

The VFX disaster in the climax

But nothing comes close to the climax fight sequence, marred by what can only be described as one of the biggest VFX disasters in modern mainstream Indian cinema, on par with what Adipurush (2023) achieved years later. From shots of Lingaa chasing villain Nagabooshan (Jagapati Babu) on a bike to them fighting in a hot air balloon, the visuals look as if created by a child who just started using a computer.

At one moment, Lingaa even scissor-kicks a bomb while hanging mid-air from the balloon. Also, who can forget Lingaa jumping off a cliff, flying for a few metres, and landing on top of the balloon, almost as if he’s a cartoon character? I never thought I would see a live version of Wile E Coyote and the Road Runner, but thanks to Rajinikanth and Ravikumar, that happened.

A rough decade for Rajinikanth fans

The early 2010s were tough for Rajinikanth fans. Despite beginning the decade with director S Shankar’s blockbuster sci-fi actioner Enthiran (2010), he couldn’t deliver anything worthwhile until Pa Ranjith’s Kabali (2016). Soon after Enthiran, Rajinikanth was signed on to headline director KS Ravikumar’s period film Rana, where he was supposed to share the screen with Deepika Padukone. However, he suffered from exhaustion on the first day of the shoot, leading to multiple hospitalisations over the next few weeks and a prolonged health scare. Eventually, Rana was shelved.

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Rajinikanth’s Lingaa underperformed at the box office. (Credit: IMDb)

While Rajinikanth fans were hopeful to catch a glimpse of him in Anubhav Sinha’s Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Ra One (2011), where Thalaivar was reported to reprise his character Chitti from Enthiran in a brief cameo, the superhero film only dampened their spirits further. Even though it’s still a mystery whether Rajinikanth actually appeared in the movie or if it was created using a body double, the visuals looked very sloppy, much to the disappointment of his fans.

They were further shattered when Kochadaiiyaan (2014), marking his younger daughter Soundarya’s directorial debut, bombed at the box office. Touted as India’s first photorealistic motion-capture film, Kochadaiiyaan finally brought together Rajinikanth and Deepika Padukone. Penned by KS Ravikumar, the period actioner featured music composed by AR Rahman. Despite its ambitious setting and the significant amount of money that went into its production, the movie opened to largely negative reviews, particularly for its shoddy animation.

But nothing came close to the heartbreak that Lingaa delivered. His first proper feature film since Enthiran, Lingaa was highly hyped, particularly since it marked his reunion with KS Ravikumar, which should have happened in Rana. Given that both their previous collaborations — Padayappa (1999), arguably the finest example of “Rajinikanth in his element,” and Muthu (1995) — were blockbusters, fans were excited for this reunion.

Although his Kamal Haasan-led Manmadan Ambu (2010) fared decently at the box office, Ravikumar was also desperate for a bona fide hit like his Dasavathaaram (2008) and Aadhavan (2009), since his more recent films Jaggubhai (2010) and Policegiri (2013) had failed to create any impact. Nevertheless, not only did his dreams shatter with Lingaa’s underperformance and negative reactions, but the action drama pretty much marked the end of Ravikumar’s directorial career.

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Anyway, that’s all for this week. We “villu” be back next week to tell you about a movie that both retired actor and current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay and his fans desperately want to erase from existence.

Memories of Blunder is a column in which we dissect some of the worst South Indian movies and performances of all time. No offence to anyone whose name surfaces here. They may all have potential, but they blew it that one time. However, don’t play the song if you can’t face the music, right?