Kabali: Kabali is a bore & Rajni limited

Cast: Rajnikanth, Winston Chao, Radhika Apte

Rated: 5/10

As I write, Kabali has already become a box office superhit. Holidays have been announced, shows have started as early as 5 am, crazed gentry in Chennai and other places has been giving headless chickens a complex, running around for that all elusive first day first show ticket and, of course, the movie has crossed the Rs200 crore mark in advance booking! That’s bigger than Hollywood and all Salman movie profits put together!

So, forgive me all youmurugans, you superstar (in blue dots) Rajni cultists, I will stick my neck out and write the truth: Me, more the Amitabh Bachchan types, even a wee bit Sallu Bhai types, me also the one in awe of Rajni following types, me thinks the movieKabali is a bore, a prolonged serenade of a super-duper star who has aged and slowed down but still continues to draw from past reputation. As do his fans who see no reason other than being with Rajni for those 2 hours 33 minutes as the raison d’ etre of their existence.

That signature twirl of the shades making a spectacle, that matchstick-in-the-mouth-till-I-die-after-a-100 bullets in my body, that dodging the shower of bullets much like coming out of a cloudburst totally dry — all that and much more which made Rajni the unmatched God of exaggeration, all of them are missing inKabali. Yes, he does give that tug to his signature three-piece (in different colours) suit, does twitch his lips and does throw those OTT dialogues of ultimate power in your direction but all that fails to measure up to the superstar’s otherwise lionised reputation.

But then it’s Rajni, so the film does not really matter, it never has. It’s the star who does, always has. So you have a smattering of Tamilians from all over South Delhi coming in with secret confetti pouches in undetectable parts of their bodies, with loud hoots at the hint of Rajni’s impending arrival on screen, the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’, the general din of worship keeping the seats alive — but even they feel subdued after some time. For, their hero is not the usual swashbuckling larger than life hero with a swagger but a Rajni too measured, too quiet, too away from fun and frolic — an old-time gangster back from prison after more than 14 years, a husband and father in revenge mode, and, of course, a Godfather who runs rehab clinics, a do-gooder who looks and acts like he is long over his prime.

Perhaps, that’s the reason why you can see a semblance of a plot in the film, now that the glitz of Rajni is not so singularly attention-seeking. Wish that were not so and our much aged God-hero had not shown a mortal hang-up in the autumn of his career.  

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 24 July, 2016