Watched Seema Raja last night at the TM Mall in Mamba point last night. This was the first experience of watching a Tamil film in the cinema. Now that we have a cinema in Monrovia, what a treat it is to see films from another film industry other than Bollywood. Seems Raja was a very long masala film but I also felt there was something of the 80s and 90s feel to it: devoted and 'not-so-good-looking sidekick', hero chasing the heroine shamelessly, funny get ups, blunt jokes, a lot of jhatkas, super evil villains, sexist innuendos, shooting of tigers, and passionate dialogues. The hero though was sympathetic towards poor people and was fighting on their behalf. This theme has all but disappeared in most mainstream Bollywood films where the only worry and concern is lame romantic relationships delivered in modern settings. There was a very 'authentic/real' feel to the film - everything was shown as it is in the rural settings. The hero with his moustache is such an opposite image from the ripped/waxed/tweezed Bollywood hero. The heroine though was more or less a show piece even though she knew some martial arts. It was interesting to see Muslim invaders from Delhi as villains in the historical dreamlike flashback (similar to the historical epic Padmavati). Also, there was a hint of animosity to North Indians who were going to usurp the land and, North Indians were cast as "foreigners." With films like Bahubali and Padmavat and this, it is interesting to see exploration of pre-colonial past, some of it with a Far Right angle. All in all, an entertaining film. On anothe note, Haresh says he never watched a Tamil film with sub titles before as they are usually dubbed in Mumbai. I give Seema Raja 3 out of 5 stars.
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