#Coolie Review

#Coolie

2025- Tamil

Starring : Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna , Sathyaraj, Shruthi Hassan, Soubin Shahir , Upendra and Aamir Khan

Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj

Plot : Deva, a mansion owner from Chennai, travels to Vizag after hearing of his old friend Rajashekhar’s death, only to discover it wasn’t natural but a murder. Rajashekhar had been working under Simon, a kingpin who controls the Vizag Port on a 99-year lease, running illegal operations behind the guise of imports and exports. Determined to uncover the truth, Deva goes undercover at the harbour, setting out to expose Rajashekhar’s killer, the deeper crimes Simon is hiding, and how Deva’s own mysterious past is connected to him—forming the crux of the story.

Performance wise, right from title card this is an Rajinikanth one man show. Man just excels once again and proves why he is THE SUPERSTAR. And the best part is , his performance in this entire film is very subtle and powerful. Nagarjuna as the Antagonist looks stylish and has territory screen presence but unfortunately his character is poorly written and lacks an proper arc. Soubin gets a meaty role and has done exceptionally well. Though the character arc felt a bit convenient at times, the character shines. Upendra as Kaleesha felt as underutilized and the cameo and hype felt forced. Aamir as Dahaa was unintentionally funny and makes the role as forced again. Shruti Hassan gets a solid role that has some meat in the first half but in the second half the character goes for a toss due to inconsistent writing. Reba Monica John and Monisha Blessy, Charlie wasted. Rachitha Ram does get a better role but again the subpar writing makes the character uninteresting beyond a point.

Technically, the film is strong. Thanks to a sharp cinematography by Girish Gangadharan . His visuals, especially the Port and Syndicate visuals show the magnanimity of the film. Editing by Philomin Raj is a bit confusing but crisp and sharp at times. Music By Anirudh is top notch asusual , though all tracks hit hard , Kokki comes out as a Surprise and is rocking on screen. 

The film opens with the Introduction of Simon aka the Kingpin and how he controls the Port and uses the Coolies for his illegal exports imports business. Then the film shifts to Deva who is a Mansion Owner in Chennai. As Deva travels to Vizag for Rajashekhar's Death, the film moves into its core plot. As Deva tries to investigate this death, he is lead to Simon. While the Initial setup looks intriguing, the film kind of loses it steam when the concept of Electric Chair is bought into the picture. While this is an interesting plot point, it is abandoned beyond a point. Then the film again shifts into focus of Simon trying to find the Mole inside the gang and then asks Deva to dispose the Mole. While the portion seems interesting, the following twist made no sense leading to a very abysmal and literally flat Interval point.

Coming to the Second half , the film unintentionally becomes an incoherent mess. The character arcs of Dayal and a new character Kalyani seem to be leading the plot sidelineing the so called main Antagonist Simon. Also we are introduced to one more subplot involving Heart Trafficking which once again is left abruptly. The Second Half Cameo of Kaleesha by Upendra felt forced. Though it had the potential to be one of the best Theatre moments, the poor writing doesn't support it. The Most Hyped Pre Climax Flashback reveal is terrific and probably the best part of the film and the climax again feels rushed and the following reveal also feels forced. The Entry of Daaha feels like a spoof and the end of character like Dayal also feels sudden and lacks the punch. There was an interesting subplot revolving Deva's Children but that also is integrated into the story as a force fit and doesn't have any emotional connection. Even the much hyped Vintage Songs placement such as Loyola College Laila felt unnecessary and didn't give the vintage punch that previous Loki films gave.

Talking about the Negatives, Coolie unfortunately suffers from multiple plot loopholes which makes the screenplay very incoherent. Each Negative character such as Dayal, Simon and Dahaa are introduced with much hype but eventually their arcs end in a very rushed or silly manner , there is no proper arc. The Film also has multiple subplots but none of the subplots feel intersting nor engaging and feels like it was just added to make the duration longer. While the film has two Major cameos, both feel unnecessary. The film suffers from terrible CGI gimmicks at time especially during stunts( Yes I completely agree Rajinikanth's Age and the limitations but even in films like Jailer or Vettaiyan it felt convincing) . Especially during the Deva Mansion fight, it was very abrupt that it was someone else fighting with Rajini's face superimposed on them which made the experience jarring. Though the Flashback and the staging was terrific, it could've been introduced earlier, the delayed staging reduced the impact.

Talking about Director Lokesh Kanagaraj, unfortunately this is one of his weakest films. As a Director Lokesh once again proves why he is the best and has command over the crafts but as a writer, Lokesh failed miserably here. Though the film is not very bad , the illogical pacing and inconsistent tone makes this film completely depend upon Superstar's Stardom to drive the film, which he does drive till a point but beyond that.....

Highlights:

1)Chikitu Song 

2) Pre Interval Disco song sequence 

3) Pre Climax Flashback 

4) Upendra scene

Overall: Coolie is an incoherent and inconsistent revenge drama that tries to be something unique but fails... But is driven till a point by the Subtle and Powerful performance of Superstar Rajinikanth.Massy yet Messy

Rating : 2.25-2.5/5

Television Rights: Sun TV 

Digital Rights: Amazon Prime