(mild spoilers alert)
(For a schizophrenic look of the same movie in Tamil, please go here.)
Oh so nice...
- Why did it take so long for someone to bell the cat and get Rajini to play his age? Delicious portrayal of a 60+ don who is torn between the search of his family and the baddies!
- Why did people miss out on Radhika Apte for so long? Of the three 'KA's in the movie - Radhika, Dhansika, Riythvika, she rocked!
- How could the nativity of Tamils in Malaysia today be brought out so effectively - the slang, the costumes, the appearances, the body language. Well researched boys!
- How can a shooting scene be emotional? The first shooting scene involving Yogi and Kabali is a fantastic conceptualization of emotions, change of guard... Great work Pa Ra!
- The 'bottling' sequence involving Dinesh, depicting the prevalent rowdyism in Malaysia is so accurate that it hurts.
- 'Free bird' theme was on throughout the movie - someone or other keeps freeing birds. Nice symbolism at its best in most places!
- How can songs and BGM be so good and not grating? Santosh is music to ears!
- Did they empty the armoury for the movie? Approximately, 2946 bullets were sprayed in the 179 gun-fight sequences through the 152 minutes duration of the movie. #KillBillWasKilled
And yet...
- Yeah, the screenplay was jumpy (after the roaring opening scene, you get a damp squib of a follow-up)
- Yeah, we were laughing 'heartily' for the grand total of 5 jokes in the movie - most of them lame! ('sarakku means girls in Malaysia and booze in Tamil Nadu' - Pleeeeze!).
- Yeah, Rajini does spew some dialogues about Tamil empowerment while staring down the barrel of a gun. Where is the deep angst-driven social awareness that #Madras preached?
- Yeah, the villains are laughable in their fluorescent jackets & put-on accents; I think we should get every male character in a Rajini film to be played by Rajini himself, else too difficult lah! Shankar managed to do that in Endhiran quite well :-)
- Yeah, there is that epilogue, where the director tries to stamp his authority, feebly though.
This will be a new experience for Rajini fans, self included, to see him in a full length movie playing his age. The body language is quite different from his hitherto body of work barring a few early ones in his career. The scenes where he runs from pillar to post in search of his loved one(s) is quite a revelation - Pa Ra can be commended for that. So, enjoy what we have missed for so long!
But is he the avenger for what the baddies did to his family? Or is he the saviour who whacks the goons for the good of the Tamils?
Verdict:
- Don't listen to the parlour intellectuals and champagne socialists & blame Rajini for all problems in world including #Brexit.
- Go watch this for Rajini in his new avatar.
- Enjoy Malaysian buffet.
- Savour Radhika Apte's class act.
- And dear Pa Ra, you are courageous for a third-film director.
1. Mullum Malarum
2. Baasha
3. Endhiran
4. Sivaji
5. Kabali
#Kabali #Neruppuda
PS1: Thanks to Paul Kalanithi for the paraphrased title of this post. May his soul rest in peace. Read the book. Eye-opening.
PS2: Rajini reads My Father Baliah while in the prison. Very apt! Nice touch, Pa Ra!
4 comments:
Cool. Thought should not read before I watch. But couldn't hold on from reading. :)
Kill bill was killed!!!
You are so skilled :D
Lovely review!
Agree the movie opened with a bang but the director failed to build on the initial momentum.
Also Rajni movies thrive when the villain is a real badass and powerful. And when Rajni outwits and outclasses thrvillaim emerging victorious, the fans go ecstatic!
The second half was a bit of a drag. Radhika Apte was under-utilised with very few scenes.
Overall, started as a bullet train and progressed as madras mail!
All said and done. The producer's bank balance might have soared as reports say
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