Lokesh Kanagaraj’s ‘Coolie’, starring Rajinikanth, is the perfect 50th-anniversary present from the director to his star

Rajinikanth gets to play a dignified character in an action-drama that (mostly) hits the right notes. This is a star movie that respects the star, and does not resort to pandering. The rest of this review may contain spoilers.

Fifty years ago, almost exactly to this date, one of India’s biggest star-actors made his movie debut. I refer to Rajinikanth, of course. And now, as a golden-anniversary gift, Lokesh Kanagaraj has given Super Star a film named Coolie. When Siva, Rajinikanth’s last A-rated movie was released, a review in a Tamil magazine sighed and said this: “How long will they keep a tiger like Rajinikanth in a small cage?” They meant that the actor was being used by mainstream cinema for just a bunch of star mannerisms. When I interviewed Nagarjuna a little while ago, he smiled and said “Coolie is all whistle whistle whistle.” That was the complaint in that Tamil magazine. Everyone is using Rajinikanth as a whistle-producing audience magnet, and that may be fine for business, but what about the actor’s ability to act? Who’s going to use that?

You can read the rest of the review here:

https://www.galattaplus.com/lokesh-kanagarajs-coolie-starring-rajinikanth-is-the-perfect-50th-anniversary-present-from-the-director-to-his-star/

You can watch the trailer / video review here:

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