Movies like Hey Ram and Alaipayuthey stand testimony to the fact that tamil cinema is definitely making big strides in quality and content. But then there are movies like Veera Nadai that refuse to budge even an inch from the cliches that have defined tamil cinema since old times. Now comes another movie that pushes tamil movies even further backward along the progressive line. Rajakaali Amman is another of those devotional movies that contains the standard story of the deity protecting her devotee from evil.

Ramya Krishnan is Amman and when the movie begins, she leaves the village she is staying in(!) when a group of villagers steal her jewels. She meets a young brother and sister pair in another village and touched by their love, decides to stay right there. The girl Meenakshi(Kousalya) and her brother(Vadivelu) grow up as staunch devotees of the goddess. Meanwhile, the bad guy in the village Seemadurai(Karan) learns from an astrologist(Saranraj) that his death would be at the hands of Meenakshi. So he poses as a nice guy and weds her. But his intention is to hand her over to a magician('Nizhalgal' Ravi) who plans to sacrifice her. The deity herself shows up at their house to protect Meenakshi.

While movies like this are aimed squarely at the gullible among us, they do have one plus. They lend themselves to the use of computer graphics. The miracles performed by the gods have long inspired movie makers to create wonders on screen. But even that oppurtunity is squandered here. Looking at Rajakaali Amman, one wouldn't think that graphics in movies have improved at all. The graphics here are amateurish and pale in comparison to the effects in contemporary movies like Mudhalvan. For instance, the final clash between Ramya Krishnan and 'Nizhalgal' Ravi is over in a flash when the encounter, essentially the fight between good and evil, could have been picturised in a grand manner by employing graphics. In places where graphics has been employed(like the snake appearing from 'Nizhalgal' Ravi's palm or the appearance of thousands of tridents on the road), they look cheap. The scene where Vadivelu has fun with Y.Vijaya will probably succeed in making children, the obvious target audience, laugh.

While movies like these are not subject to the conventional wisdom of logic, I still had problems with inconsistencies in the way the subject(praising Amman) has been handled. For a devotional movie, the deity seems too ineffective in the movie. While devotees are typically subject to hardships, the problems Vadivelu and Kousalya go through are too much. While they can actually see the goddess and talk to her and feed her, she does not help Vadivelu when he is being killed nor does she just tell Kousalya that Karan is a bad man before she gets married. And how exactly does a deity leave a village and go to another? The surprise twist regarding Saranraj's motive is the only sign that the director has thought a little.

There is also a snake along for the ride. It is apparently a normal snake since Vadivelu uses it to earn money. But it seems to have wisdom worthy of a sage. It runs races with Kousalya, knows that Karan is a bad man and tries to warn Kousalya(which even the goddess doesn't do!) and finally, helps Kousalya save her husband from the wrath of the goddess with a laughable act of self-sacrifice!

Ramya Krishnan is radiant as Amman and the role suits her well. Her face is very expressive and she puts her dancing talents to good use too. Karan is the other actor who has fun. He is impressive as the wicked husband. Vadivelu plays a sentimental role with no hint of comedy and is much better. Considering how irritating he has been in his last few comedy roles, maybe a change of roles might be better. Sandhana Malligai... is melodious and as usual in S.A.Rajkumar movies, repeated several times.

As long as there are viewers who pat their cheeks in devotion whenever Ramya Krishnan appears on screen as Amman, there will be directors and producers who take advantage of people's gullibility and offer up such movies. All we can do is hope that people become more literate and reject these movies.