`Never again will an actor rise to such heights of popularity, inspire such depths of devotion` said Bharadwaj Rangan about Rajini. The craze Kabali brought before release is too heavy that its hard to make it happen again even for Super Star. For a moment, it made me think about S. Shankar and his upcoming movie with Rajinikanth. The atmosphere Rajinikanth created with his incredible magnetic power with the very poster is amazing. We know the power of the character Kabali even before grabbing the tickets.
What is it that makes this movie good? Well, first of all there is the Super Star, and then Santhosh Narayanan. I thought Kabali would be more like an epic gangster movie like Suresh Krishna`s Baatcha. That is were it is going to get negative feeling because it has more emotional scenes than Rajini-style scenes. In a way it is, but more often than not it isn't. I'm not sure if it's even fair to compare the two because they aim to accomplish different points and both follow extremely distinct paths.A gangster flick that is overflowing with life, rich with emotion and subtle acting, and further blessed with Pa. Ranjith different approach to a Rajini movie. I purposely decided not to spoil much about the plot because I believe that the film is perfectly enjoyed without knowing anything in advance. It lacks an intangible quality that all block-buster Rajini movies have; but it has an aura that makes it look like a great action film. The slowness at time affects the mood but overall it does not. On some level, Ranjith fails to give out-and-out Rajini film but on another level he succeeds in bring Rajinikanth as actor back onscreen.
Rajinikanth. What a man! His screen presence is ultimate. He makes other big stars look like tube lights. He makes us wanting to see his style more. When the film gets emotional, Reeves is absolutely believable and you feel the hurt his character is going through. He makes us wanting to see his anger more. His energy is unmatchable. We want to see him walking, giving dialogues, his stare at the villains his emotional scenes, his action scenes and the background track `Neruppu da`. He's such a serious legend.
Talking about pace, the movie is not very slow but some sequences seem stretched. The writer goes for a plot that's fairly easy and borderline lazy. Some scenes are completely emotionless. The connecting element with audience is missing somewhere here unlike his previous two films but there is Rajinikanth for hiding it. The way action scenes are executed on screen was original being that it was subtle and not as campy or cartoon- like.
Unfortunately, where the film falters a bit is the cast of characters. None of them are bad and most of them are played by talented actors, but they are pretty much text book as far as the writing goes. Radhika Apte is impressive in the role and so it Dhansika, and the rest are there for the sake of. Stereotypical, failing to surprise and mainly there to move the plot from one action scene to another.
This is another kind of Rajini movie. The writing is neat. But there are many scenes which does not connect to each other, something like continuity mistakes but Ranjith keeps Rajinikanth in front to cover the distorted scenes.
The first scene at the prison... chills! Once the action starts it never really loses momentum. One thing to mention though is that it never gets 'dumb' like a lot of these kinds of movies do. I can only say I'm impressed by this picture, the incredible haunting music and the terrific Rajinikanth. The movie is without a doubt worth your theatre presence. A sensational action film but not the greatest.
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