Moral of the story: No one takes on Salman Khan. Interestingly, the two superstars do a smooth image-switchover in the two eagerly awaited films. Salman, who epitomizes urbane cool, goes rustic in Sultan. Rajinikant who specializes in earthy back-to-the-roots roles of rural crusaders acquires a sophisticated citified personality in Kabali.Īpparently, Salman Khan who never watches films (especially not his own) never misses a Rajinikant film.
He has ideas how to project Rajinikanth to the this generation of audiences but he seems to have bogged down by the star's huge image. Director Ranjith has come up with a confused plotline. The Telugu dialogues by Sahithi are perfect. Santosh Narayan has given best background musical score but his songs don't sound good on the screen. 'Kabali' is shot richly with good visuals cranked by cameraman G Murali. But surprise package of the movie is Dhansika.
He is terrific in both the shades of his character - young gangster, and an ageing don. As always, superstar Rajinikanth and his stylish action is a delight to watch. He has shown the emotional side in his acting. He has come up with best performance after a long time. There are no 'Seeti Maaro' punch dialogues either.ĭespite playing an ageing man, Rajinikanth shows off the uber-cool style, mannerisms. There is definitely a style, a certain class but it misses the major factor that audience expects from a Rajini movie - clap worthy scenes or entertainment. Much of the movie, its setup and sequences also give us feel of déjà vu. Though there is an undercurrent theme of 'Dalit angst' with the dialogues like - "Gandhi chokka vippukoni undadam venuka, Ambedkar eppudu coat vesukovadam venuka chala rajakiyam undira", and "Nenu Rajyadikaram lenivadigane puttocchu kani naku palinche hakku undi." They appear as a fragmented ideas beneath the commercial elements. What the director is trying to say through this movie, the main plot point gets lost in all this mayhem and confusion. And the movie ends much like Manirathnam's 'Nayakudu' without proper justification. Suddenly the drama again is shifted to confrontational war between the Tony Lee, a Malaysian mafia don and Kabali. There is lot of unnecessary scenes too like Rajinikanth and his daughter fearing every moment, and Rajinikanth moving from one place to other to find his wife. While he gets daughter at the very beginning, the finding of his wife Valli takes an hour's runtime. The director then shifts the focus to Rajinikanth's craving to find his family - daughter and wife. There after it takes on a different route. Though the drama moves at a leisure pace, it is on right track in the first 30 minutes. The director establishes how Rajinikanth became a gangster and turned as a savior to local Indian people fighting against the Chinese in the beginning of the movie perfectly. The philosophical dialogue about freeing the birds from the cage tells the humane nature of the gangster Kabali. The slow motion walk shots, Hollywood-style action set pieces, and couple of punch dialogues set the mood right. His introduction scene where he sits in jail reading 'My Father Balaiah' book is terrific. Gang wars and family drama get more focus though.ĭirector Ranjith starts off the movie superbly by showcasing Rajinikanth in rather different manner. 'Kabali' touches upon many topics - Tamils/Indians being ill-treated in Malaysia, gang wars, searching for family member, drugs issue, etc but none of them gel perfectly. On the surface, 'Kabali' seems a commercial gangster movie like his iconic blockbuster 'Baasha', but it isn't. His purpose of doing this film seems to be playing a role that close to his age in real life. He and his daughter now head to India to search Kundanvalli.Īfter disappointing his fans and common audiences with his last two outings - 'Vikramasimha' and 'Linga', Superstar Rajinikanth has teamed up with an up and coming director Pa Ranjith to come out from his regular style and transform to playing matured roles. Later a drug lord tells him that his wife is also alive.
In a sudden development, he meets his daughter (Dhansika). In a flashback, the story of his rise as gangster, how he married Kundanvalli (Radhika Apte) and the incident that put him in jail is told. The kids at this foundation's school ask him to narrate his story.
He also supports a foundation Free Life that rehabilitates drug addicts and gangsters.
Gangster Kabali (Rajinikanth) is released from Malaysia jail after 25 years.