South Movie Lingaa
Owoeye Heatley
Here, the story goes back to 1939 and it is revealed that Lingaa is the sole heir to his grandfather Raja Lingeswaran who belonged to a long lineage of kings who ruled south India. Why do people of Singanoor want Lingaa to come back to the village? What does Lingaa find there? Will he stay back? The rest of the story answers these questions.
Sonakshi Sinha debuts in south with Lingaa. Well, she looks good as Bharathi, the girl who is in awe of Raja Lingeswara. Her role appears in flashback and she fits her part well. She looks good and adds glamour to her part.
Jagapathi Babu plays MP Nagabhushanam who likes Lakshmi. He plays the baddie once again. He seems to be the new favourite to play the bad man in south which has had an overdose of Hindi villains for the past many years. His role has no depth and his role is mostly limited to the climax scenes.
Technical Excellence:
The opening shot of the dam is really good and the cinematographer Randy needs to be given full credit for it. He makes sure the scenic beauty of Karnataka is a visual treat to the audience.
The Tamil audiences might simply love the film for the simple reason that they get to see Rajinikanth in flesh and blood after a very long time. But one is not sure as to how the Telugu audiences will react to the dubbed version which is reminiscent of many films.
Rajinikanth is 64 and it is amazing that at this age he is able to perform as he does, but we should all accept that age is a fact not fiction. But for south Indian cinema that has seen stars act as 20 something well into their 70s it is nothing new. But Rajini is the youngest old man in town to act that way, I would put Mammootty also next to him. But Mamootty looked 35 even when he was 20+ and still looks 35. But friends age is a fact and not fiction.
K.S Ravikumar and his team of writers failed Rajni and Anushka is most definitely NOT a bad actress. Have you seen Arundhati and Vaanam? K.S Ravikumar has a habit of scripting weak female characters and it has followed suit here.
Anyone who has visited India or, for that matter, anyone who has wandered through an exhibition of Indian art has seen a linga. This form has been a constant presence in India for more than 5,000 years, and even today lingas can be found not only in the inner sanctum of great temples (such as Vishvanatha in Benares and the Nataraja temple in south India), but also in simple roadside shrines. They can frequently be found tucked at the base of trees throughout India.
Why has this symbol endured for more than five millennia? What is it about this shape that exerts such a powerful influence on the hearts and minds of spiritual seekers? The simplest answer is that the linga is a universal symbol for Ultimate Reality, a visible expression of the invisible. The esoteric and complex answer, the answer found in yogic doctrine, is that the linga is not simply a visible symbol of invisible Truth; it is quite literally a manifestation of that Truth. The symbolism of the linga is the subject of theology, mythology, and spiritual psychology in Indian literature. On the other hand, the metaphysics surrounding the linga finds its expression in Vedic and tantric texts, specifically in the schools of Srividya and Shaivism, which tell us that the linga is the highest reality, the source and locus of the manifest universe. Symbolism offers justification for worshiping or meditating on the formless, transcendental Truth in a form. The metaphysics of the linga, on the other hand, goes even deeper, helping us penetrate the symbolism and gain direct experience of that which lies behind it.
Lingas are most commonly made of rock, a durable, ubiquitous substance which serves to remind us that God is everywhere (even in non-sentient entities) and helps us to dismantle the wall separating human and non-human, sentient and non-sentient forms. The life-span of a linga encompasses an untold number of human lifespans, thus making us realize that Truth is unborn and enduring. Most lingas are shaped and smoothed by water, just as we ourselves are shaped and sustained by that fluid of life.
The linga assumes either a pillar-like oblong or a rounder, egg-like shape. Although all forms convey the same truth, the rounded pillar has become more popular among the general population, while the learned yogis prefer the egg-like shape which the scriptures refer to as a bindu (point). Understanding the symbolism of these two forms can give us a basic understanding of yogic and tantric doctrine and practices.
The connection of the linga with the generative organ of Shiva, thus creating an association between this symbol and fertility, procreation, and erotic satisfaction, is not the scriptural view. Rather, the scriptures describe the linga as the symbol of Shiva-as-Pure-Consciousness. According to this view, Shiva is neither person nor deity; Shiva is the non-dual Truth that contains the seed of the entire universe. Vedic and tantric texts set forth a profound system of metaphysics explaining the origin and workings of the universe at the level of both macrocosm and microcosm. An understanding of this philosophical system (mentioned briefly in the Vedas and detailed in the Tantras) is critical to penetrating the mystery of the linga, which is a prerequisite to undertaking the practice of tantra and kundalini yoga.
In its highest sense, the purpose of yoga sadhana is to permit us to gain direct experience of this living Shivalinga which is the essence of our being. This requires learning to penetrate the physical sheath (which, due to ignorance and karmic impurities, has become dense and opaque), in order to find the light which is eternal and all-pervading. Thus, aspirants on the path of yoga learn to locate and meditate on the internal linga rather than on a form in the outer world. A common metaphor in the scriptures is that the body is a temple and each building block is a Shivalinga. Just as people do not worship the temple itself but the divinity enshrined within it, yogis turn their minds inward, enter the temple of the body, and meditate on a specific linga there as a means of attaining the state of oneness with the presiding force of that linga.
Kundalini yoga is a purely internal meditation. It involves no imagination or visualization, but it can begin only after the mind has turned inward and found the light there. Visualizing the linga internally, however, is a means of preparing for the practice of kundalini yoga. This approach (which is for meditators who have an intellectual understanding of the dynamics of energy in the human body but who do not have direct access to this energy) trains the mind to turn inward and engenders a longing for the direct experience of that light. The practice of visualization falls somewhere between purely internal meditation and external, ritualistic practices in the sense that it requires no external object even though the primary object of focus has characteristics (such as shape and color) of an external form. The scriptures call visualization manas puja (mental worship). Because of its mixed nature, it is called mishra sadhana and is described in the tantric texts belonging to the mishra school; the external ritualistic practices are described in kaula literature; and the purely internal practices are found in the samaya texts.
Although there are numberless lingas in the human body, the concentration of consciousness in the chakras causes the linga to shine more brilliantly there, making them suitable centers for meditation. The lingas that are most commonly the focus of meditation are the swaymbhuvalinga at the root chakra, the itaralingaat the center between the eyebrows, and the banalinga at the heart center.
Seekers explore a multitude of possibilities in their search for the sacred. They try to find it in their day-to-day existence, in their natural surroundings, in the sky and the space beyond, in the inner sanctum of a temple, or within their own body and mind. The mind is the main medium for this search and, as we have seen, the mind can comprehend the Divine only if it has a form. Therefore, even those who have attained the experience of transcendental Truth are bound to express it through a symbol that can be recognized and understood by others. Images of fire, such as a candle flame, as well as such images as the Star of David, the cross, and complex mandalas are dialects of the sacred language of spiritual symbolism. However, all of these symbols carry at least some religious connotation and accordingly may not be equally meaningful in all cultures and in all times and places.
Most of us are somewhere between the laity and the yogis. We are searching for a spiritual meaning in the inner world but have not yet freed ourselves from an attraction to and belief in symbols and sacred images. For us, meditation on the linga as a symbol can be a means of transcending the limitations of mind and senses in order to enter the realm which lies beyond all symbols and images.
While Sonakshi may be a newcomer in the south, she has already been part of several Hindi films that were remakes of south hits including Dabanng (2010), Rowdy Rathore (2012), Son Of Sardaar (2012), and Holiday. Also, four of her projects so far have been with film-makers from the south industries, including AR Murugadoss and Prabhudheva.
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