Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva Review - Yes! This Siva is bad indeed!!!
Bharath Vijayakumar
The first sort of hyperbole that sort of strikes you is the 'Makkal Super Star' tag that accompanies Lawrence's name in the title cards. You understand that something is brewing (if not the audience, at least in the minds of the makers or the hero) and you are sort of prepared for the kind of film this is going to be (in case you had missed the trailers that needed earplugs for protection). But the film needs more than earplugs. It is not an attack merely on our eardrums as it targets all our senses.
Plot:
A rogue inspector transforms into a superhero.
The only positive aspect of the film (if you can call it one) is its honesty in making its intentions very clear. It has to glorify its hero and it does that in every possible way. The only problem is that we are not interested. Even Sathyaraj who normally emotes pretty well merely goes through the motions here. 150 minutes is too long for a film that has not even a single decent stretch anywhere. At least the songs could have been better. You often use the term watchable/not watchable for a film. But here even the songs are not hearable.
The way this film exploits specially abled and transgender in the name of emotions is most disheartening and leaves a very bad taste. There is even a body shaming comedy scene on an overweight woman with a dark complexion. The audience around were laughing. I did look around and all I could see were pot bellies and faces no less darker than the one on screen. What a sporting gesture by the audience in laughing at a joke that is so directly mocking them. The film revolves around a brutal rape and murder and how the hero avenges this. But we have an earlier scene where there is a joke about gang rape. The film releases a day after Woman's day. What a timing after the numerous delays.
The biggest joke in the film was how in a crucial scene an evidence suddenly surfaces and this is then tracked back to an item song. The makers do not even seem to know the spelling of logic. They are brave enough to hide an entire pumpkin under a plate of rice and then they reveal that they found a small pebble and we are supposed to be in awe. You need not wait for 10 more months. This is the best comedy scene of 2017.
The only thing interesting I could do in watching this film was counting the number of MGR and Rajni references. Even that turned futile as every other scene had one.
Bottomline:
Motta Siva Ketta Siva is a masala film. But you do not get a meal. What you get is masala powder directly dumped into your mouth till you suffocate. What makes it all the more painful is that it is stale masala.
Rating: 1.5/5