'Coolie' movie review: A starry spectacle with a thin plot line

Violence, vengeance, and vigilantism mark fanboy filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj’s much awaited ‘Coolie’.

Riding heavily on the swag, wit and mannerisms of the mass idol Rajinikanth, ‘Coolie’ is an ode to the star, who is celebrating his golden jubilee year in cinema.

On learning his friend Rajashekar is murdered, a furious Daya (Rajinikanth) takes it as his life’s mission to avenge his death.

The film suffers from a sloppily written script that criss-crosses and takes numerous twists and turns to no avail. Despite its many bankable stars, the film fails to provide an engrossing and wholesome experience.

‘Coolie’ is collated with cameos — Telugu cinema’s Nagarjuna, Kannada cinema’s Upendra, a blink and miss Aamir Khan representing Bollywood, and Marathi-Hindi cinema’s Mahesh Manjrekar. The young director makes sure to provide ‘Coolie’ a pan-Indian flamboyance.

While superstar Rajinikanth is the pivot, principle purpose and sheet anchor for the 170-minute wafer-thin plotline, Soubin Shahir charms the audience with an arresting performance as Dayal. More so with his dance moves for the song 'Monica'. Even Pooja Hegde pales before Soubin’s playful gyrations. The song is the only “whistle podu” moment for the crowds, apart from the electric presence of their Thalaiva. If you leave out the song, the much-praised Anirudh Ravichander’s music comes a cropper.

Besides Soubin, Upendra steals the limelight as Kaleesha, Daya’s comrade in arms (literally).

With men forming the combatants in this highly combustible actioner, where every second person is felled with a bullet or machete, the ladies — Shruti Haasan and Rachita Ram — have nothing much to do. The villains just toss them around as bargaining chips.

By making ‘Coolie’ bloody and gory, Lokesh Kanagaraj has elevated villainy and violence to its full brutal form. While Rajinikanth lives and walks through his fan-pleasing role, the others play second fiddle to elevate his charisma and screen presence.