Kabali (Review): Engrossing music, and a star with unimaginable power to electrify the audience.

Ranjith tried many different scenes with Rajini and he wasn’t wrong in that part. Anyway, even with few memorable scenes, at some point of time in to the movie, we feel this as a missed opportunity to go to the top. The conflict in the movie is very one dimensional, and the surprises does not work in the way it should have been.

Super Star Rajinikanth is not glamorized — he’s not glamorized as S. Shankar or K.S. Ravikumar or Suresh Krishna movies. But still the Super Starism is there, along with him, (Koodave puranthathu), no matter whether he is simply looking at another character or driving a car or walking to take his shirt or drinking coffee, the Rajini as we know is there. Rajini uses more facial communication than speech in the film, like Kamal Haasan in “Nayakan” or say Rajini himself in “Thalapathi”. The magic of the Rajinikanth is right here and there, now and then, consistently.

The opening scene as the Super Star coming out of the jail sets the bar very high. I can’t tell you much more about the film without giving it away, which would be really messed up. It’s good. There are few memorable scenes like the ‘Maya Nadhi’ song, Dhansika and Rajinikanth meeting and the incredible ‘Neruppu Da’ sequences. Whenever ‘Neruppu Da’ track is played, there is Goosebumps all over. The scene before ‘Maya Nadhi’ and the song sequence are absolutely beautiful.

‘நான செத்து தான் பொயிருந்தேன், நீ என்னை வந்து பார்க்கிற வரைக்கும்’ cut to ‘மாய நதி இன்று’ song. What a beauty!

I wasn’t absolutely wowed by any of the actor’s performances other than Rajinikanth, Dhansika and Radhika Apte. The score by Jigarthanda composer Santhosh Narayanan is one of the creepiest. It complements the film rather than overpowers it, and gives the Kabali its unique quality.

“Kabali” just seemed to be moving at the wrong pace for its subject and the Super Star, it cannot bring every viewers drawn into the character’s world. Kabali is more than an average stuff, it has Super Star, great background score, a lot of actors and around a dozen of good moments. It is not a Godfather or Thalapathi, but is like John Wick and Commando trying to connect emotionally. This is what happened when Sam Mendes directed James Bond.

The story is bland, so what! The movie is just fun! Why should it need to be anything other than what it is? Loved the remarkable theatre experience. Kabali almost pulls off the impossible, but a few touch ups here and there would have made this film one for the ages. Overall Kabali is a very satisfying action drama.