#365DaysOfWriting — Day Seventy-Seven
Kabali da!
There’s swagger.
There’s attitude.
There’s punchy dialogue delivery.
There’s good acting.
But, surprisingly, and refreshingly, no showboating or chest-thumping.
Kabali is Rajinikanth in his pure entertainer form, without unnecessary frills. It shows that even with a half-decent story, or a convoluted plot, Rajinikanth can elevate a film to another level entirely. And, after a pretty long time, there’s no overacting or an obsequious need to please the fans.
But fans will be pleased for sure.
Make no mistake, he leaves nothing back. You will be reminded of his walk from Baasha, his swagger from Padayappa, and the way he sits on that sofa — ooh la la! But this is Rajini being clever, and allowing the character to take over, rather than the superstar. You may think that there’s ‘no difference between superstar and character’, but indeed, there is. Rajinikanth had lost a bit of that division post-Chandramukhi — it was always Superstar Rajinikanth, never the character. In Kabali, Rajini redresses that in only the way he can.
Pa. Ranjith has delivered a beautiful tribute to the Rajini of old.
In an interview with The Hindu, Pa. Ranjith said he ‘wanted to bring back the Rajini of Mullum Malarum’. He’s not managed THAT (Mullum Malarum is one of Rajini’s finest moments as an actor) but he’s come pretty darn close. He’s managed to marry Rajini the entertainer with Rajini the character actor. And he’s succeeded.
The film itself has a pretty run-of-the-mill story, but tries to send a few messages earnestly.
The director likes to tell his stories honestly. This was a theme even with his earlier film, Madras. He talks about class division, oppression and revolution in the guise of a gangster film. The support cast is pretty good — Radhika Apte as Kabali’s wife, shines in the few scenes she’s in, and his daughter Yogi (played by Dhansika) also gives a good performance. Winston Chao as Tony Lee is a caricature of a villain, which makes the other villain, Veerasekaran (played by Kishore Kumar G.) a lot more intimidating.
To cut a long story shot — go watch Kabali. If for nothing else, for the Rajini we know and love. The one who wears the crown of ‘Superstar’ with relative ease. And oh, watch it in Tamil with English subtitles — I watched it at PVR ICON in Andheri, and fortunately, the Tamil version had subtitles. You can only experience Rajini the Phenomenon in Tamil.
