Mahachandi

Step right up Messieurs and Mesdames. This is one dose of mythology that you just can't afford to miss (please don't ask why - I am having some harmless fun here). Mixed with the modern ways of politics and graphical interpretations of old demons that look hardly a decade old (hush!), and with some formidable femmes and a sum total of nine devotional songs, this is one you should be rearing to see (questions can wait).

Maa Kaali must surely be pleased by this powerful rendition of the havoc she is capable of creating. Talking about havoc, did I tell you about Vijayashanti's dances? I haven't? Mamma Mia! I am forgetting my priorities!

The lady seems to have taken the Godzilla line a mite too seriously. Size seems to be the only thing that matters as she takes up space in a manner that would do ol' J Lo proud (I mean the Indian version… J La would be more appropriate, no?) And she is ably backed by Laya who seems to be following her heavy footsteps. We are talking serious weight here! Hope it doesn't cause this movie to do a Titanic.

The story ain't new for mythology freaks. Agastya, one of the seven sages, is an ascetic who loves his 24 hours of meditation a day. Having seen Shiva and Parvati tie the knot, he hurries back to his seat and resumes penance for the good of the world. Kaali meanwhile is incensed that some mortals down there are taking Her Holy Scariness for granted. So let's check out the scene down there.

Bhairava Murthy (Karan) conspires with Veerabhadram (Rajan P Devan) and tries to appease Goddess Kali, 'cos he wants to be an MLA. He even renovates her temple, putting in state-of-the-art décor. She refuses to be pleased. So the duo start trying to invoke Chandasur, a certain unsavory character the divine lady had disposed a few millennia before. This is what incenses the lady. Understandable, what! These politicians seem to straddle fences everywhere!

The lady is all for burning the duo to ashes, but Agastya asks her to exercise prudence. We have the movie's duration to think about here! So a painstaking process is thought of where Maa Kaali assumes a human form and starts countering the evil duo's acts downstairs. Bhairava Murthy manages to escape the fiery eye by marrying Laya, for whatever reasons. Veerabhadram and the invoked Asura are dispatched by the Goddess.

This movie is in the same league as all those snake movies (not THOSE snake movies - I meant the divine-snake ones!). The graphics are called that 'cos the vocabulary of English is hopelessly inadequate. The acting basically consists of glaring and outglaring. Damn good job, too! I shall not talk about the songs as they are all devotional, and I don't blaspheme. The direction, I guess, was all a question of seeking the approval of the Tathaastu devas. And as for the audience, let's hope this ain't making atheists of them!