I will go and see a movie because it has Rajnikant in it. I don’t need it to have much else. Just let it have the man, his mannerisms and his lines and I am entertained. However, I hope this is his last movie! I said that after Lingaa as well and I say it again.
Kabali has a story – a good one really. It is set in a milieu that many Indians don’t know much about. It could have resonated with migrant communities from across India who go to a strange land and help to build it up and yet have their rights routinely being trampled upon and being treated as “outsiders”.
After the expected start, what I realized was that the Director seems to have been overcome with awe at directing Thalaivar. Most of the actors, and there are really too many of them, seemed clueless. It was typified by Dhansika, who acts as Yogi, a contract killer who turns out to be Kabali’s daughter, repeatedly asking, “Ennapa?” (What, dad?) In the movie she is asking him to gauge his mood and thoughts, but to me it sounded like she was asking him to tell her what to do next since the Director certainly didn’t seem to be helping her. The same is true for Dinesh Ravi as Jeeva – every time the camera pans to him, he seems to come alive; else he is totally without expression. Perhaps a good Editor could have salvaged the movie still, but that doesn’t seem to have happened either. The one person who seems to have enjoyed himself as much as Rajnikant is John Vijay as Amir.
I read several reviews which mentioned Radhika Apte for her performance. Again, all I saw was this vivacious lady wearing the most beautiful saris and smiles, spout motivational lines to Kabali. She looked reconciled to the situation and hence avoided the confusion that Dhansika and Dinesh Ravi had etched on their faces.
Rajnikant was himself – of course his on-screen performance is a mix of Billa, Muthu, Annamalai, Padayappa, Baasha et al. They are all alike and yet have a little something added on. His age showed clearly on screen. His movements are much slower, but his style remains. I remember going as a wee lass to see Billa after pestering my dad endlessly. That good impression continues. I was entertained by Kabali as I was by all his other movies. I wait for his lines – each movie throws up a new bunch of them. Kabali didn’t have as many funny lines as some others did. But it had my personal favourite – Thalaivar joking about his dark skin and how it doesn’t matter. Acting? No, I don’t watch a Rajni movie for great acting – I watch it for non-stop entertainment.
One thing that struck me was Dhansika’s role. I think this is a first for a Tamil movie in the last three decades at least – a female lead who is a contract killer, has short hair, wears pants, and is generally badass!! Yes, in other Tamil movies there are female leads who have short hair and wear pants – but somewhere they meet the hero and then they “reform” – they become good Tamil women – definitely growing their hair out and moving on to a salwar kameez if not to a sari.
Kabali has good music – both the background score and the score are catchy and Neruppu da will be hummed for some days to come.
My advice as a fan – Rajnikant should retire gracefully at this point. He is already a Legend. He will continue to remain one for me and thousands others like me. He shouldn’t tarnish his image by doing more films like Kabali. When they show one of his old movies on TV, I still sit and watch it. But with the newer ones like Enthiran or Kochadiyan, I change the channel without a pause. He may still want to act, but then he has to choose the right movies. News reports say that his daughter Soundarya approached the Director, Pa.Ranjith after Rajnikant appreciated his previous movie, Madras. I guess paternal feelings are strong, but really Rajnisaar will be better off going with his own instincts – his last three movies are sufficient examples.
Will loyalty take me back for one more Rajni movie? I guess it will, but really, I hope this is the last. At least of this genre!
No comments:
Post a Comment