कबाली

I liked, by far, not the best of the Indians, but the joint production with Malaysia yielded a good film, some uncomfortable and artificial situations, almost vexatious, but it involves and captivates us ...

When a Rajinikanth movie releases, we all go thronging up with more fascinations and exhilarations to see Thalaivar performing the mass acts. But before watching Kabali, there were clear assumptions that it is going to be a class movie more than mass. This was my expectation while going to the theatres and the result is that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Till the interval, though long, it's very fast paced with a great story or anything. But after interval, we are in for a serious and emotional drama, where Pa. Ranjith comes to the fore. The drama gets emotionally gripping and, at times, heart-churning. Heroine Radhika Apte and Riythvika deliver excellent performance. Sai Dhansikaa is seen in a suave and stylish role, which caters to action lovers. Sai Dhansikaa performed action sequences. Women may even begin to style themselves like Dhansikaa. The female roles are hugely powerful like male characters.

Rajinikanth strikes awe in every frame with his majestic screen presence. Santhosh Narayanan's equally fiery and blazing instrument- wielding prowess gives Neruppuda Rajinikanth the perfect pedestal for us to admire what he is!

The climax is positive, though thankfully not linear, and predictability has been avoided. It feels that the pre-climax scene suffices but Pa Ranjith is a director, who aspires to be a director of class. So, he has that ambiguous climax, which can give rise to a sequel, if Kabali is well-received. Kabali story treatment is extraordinary. Kabali is sure to be a all time blockbuster but we should wait and see how well it is received, especially to see if the ambiguous climax will be well-received!

It is a very nice movie with limited songs and almost zero dance, Which is something special about this movie.

Rajini lovers please watch the movie and please notice his dressing style. Its Awesome!!!

Makeup Artist has done a great job.

Dunno why people said its draggy, which I totally dint feel.

Watch the movie and come to a conclusion, don't listen to what people say( Includes my opinion too).

Please do not read reviews and go with the same expectation because people have different tastes.

I personally liked every bit of it.

Overall a nice move. Will not disappoint fans.

I used to be a hardcore Rajini during my teenage days. But after sometime the craze went off because actors are not real life heroes. I still like Rajini and his movies. After seeing this movie all I understood that Rajini wanted to do something different from his usual way of stereotype movies and this movie is definitely reality based and gangster movie which is the real smartest move Rajini has done after a very long time. Though the movie has more of emotion than the regular type but this is what is happening in the real world and that's what the director has told us through this movie. A Tamil man in another land working for his livelihood and fighting with the authorities to get equality for him and his people and gets it done and from there he becomes a revolutionary turning to become a gangster (and does social service) who loses his family because of the enmity and jealousy of his rival gang and then he is caught by the law and is judged falsely and sent to prison and then comes back to avenge his family's death only to find out that his family is still alive. He then gets released and with the help of his old gang members not only gets back his family but he avenges by finishing off all his rivals (typical 'Godfather'style movie ending). It is a very good movie and Rajini has shown good acting in this movie. Though there are certain scenes which could have been improvised by the director but still looks good for the audience. The action is really class apart with a solid blood shed violence for which the movie should have been given PG15 (but has been given Ú' certificate). On the whole in my opinion it is not an really excellent movie (but it could have been if the scenes were improvised) but a really very good movie on the whole and it will surely be a blockbuster as Rajini has come back with a bang in this movie. Magizhchi (Cheers!).......

Kabali is not a usual Rajni film to begin with. It doesn't have any of Rajni's tricks which have made him famous. Nor it shows Rajni as a young ageless man romancing some heroine one third his age.

Rajni finally plays his age, a 60 year old gangster, out of jail in search of his missing wife and seeking revenge for those who destroyed his life. And this is good part of the film because it great to see Rajni the actor and not Rajni the star.

However, the issue I found with Kabali is writer director is not clear whether he should make a gangster or a serious drama film. There are times where Ranjith is telling us about the underworld in Malaysia run by Chinese and Indians. He also highlights the racial tension between the Indians and Malaysians. But on the other hand, he is also depicting a husband having visions about his wife and searching for her.

One of the main reasons Godfather II is considered one of the best gangster films is because it tells both the stories which such ease without losing its core - the life of Michael Corelone and the revenge story of Vito Corelone.

But unlike the Godfather series, Ranjith adds too much of emotions leaving us confused. So there are two beautiful scenes where Kabali meets his daughter for the 1st time and when he meets his wife after 25 years. Both scenes are very high on emotional quotient. Plus there is a long and meaningless climax and a twist in the end which I felt was not required.

Another problem with Kabali is the villain. Rajni's movies have strong villains. But Kabali lacks strong villains. Winston Chao and Kishore are neither menacing nor convincing and end up as any normal cartoonish villains thanks to the poor writing. Chao especially looks funny wear purple suits with funny expressions.

Apart from Rajani, the saving grace is his women co-stars. Radhika Apte is mind blowing as his long lost wife. Apte who is 30 years old gets into the skin and with ease plays the role of 50 plus year old. She and Rajani share a nice sweet old world charm and chemistry.

Other hand, Dhansika plays Kabali's long lost daughter who is also a contract killer. She also put up a nice performance.

Finally, Kabali is not the usual Rajani film. Its different. However, it had the potential to be a great Rajani film.