RIFLE RANGE BOY: Rajni

Coolie(Tamil; 2025)
Story & Direction: Lokesh Kanagaraj

https://www.tgv.com.my/movie/coolie

In 1983, the Hindi cinema went agape when, during the shooting of the movie 'Coolie', Amitabh Bachchan sustained a serious injury. One of his stunts went awry. He landed on the floor instead of the table and sustained life-threatening intra-abdominal injury. His condition was serious. His heart stopped once, and he had to undergo multiple surgeries and time in the ICU. While he was in the hospital, the whole nation was in tenterhooks. Daily prayers were held whilst radio stations gave daily updates on his condition. Close to a hundred thousand people turned up during the recommencement of shooting. The people's response to the turn of events was so eclectic that the moviemakers changed the ending of the movie. Bachchan's character was supposed to die, but it was decided that he should live. It smashed all box office returns at that time. Coincidentally, the protagonist was a Muslim donning the railway porter tag, which bore the number '786', which is a significant number to Indian Muslims culturally. It is linked to divine salutations 'Bismullah Rahmani Rahim'. His character helped to strengthen the fractured Muslim-Hindu relations then, as well-wishers of both faiths had numerous prayers during Amitabh's trying times.

Do I see communist links?

Amitabh Bachchan was so pleased with how it all turned out with the national support and the subsequent box office returns that he was heard to have mentioned in an interview that there can never be another Coolie. Another Coolie did come eventually by an actor elevated to Bachchan's status in the Southern cinema, Rajnikanth. This time, the Coolie tag carried the number 1421, the director's father's tag number when he worked diligently as a bus conductor.

As in most big cinema releases these days, a big buildup is created before its launch. First, they attack the social media spaces with announcements to rile the excitement. Then they will inaugurate the audio launch. It will give the impression as if everyone knows the song by heart and compel people to hum to the tune. After much hoopla, the movie would be launched with much pomp and splendour, like pouring barrels of milk over the actor's effigy. By that time, die-hard fans would be fighting tooth and nail trying to get tickets for the first day screening of the show.

This culture, which was mainly confined to the state of Tamil Nadu before, has now permeated into Malaysia.

Just the other day, a Malaysian social activist was relating her experience at a restaurant. It was about noon on a working day when she was having her meal. She noticed a young family of four, father, mother and two preteen children, engaged in a meal and deep conversation. She overheard them conversing about the first day, first show of Rajnikanth's 'Coolie' that they were about to watch.

The social worker was dumbfounded by how Rajni's movie, in the parents' eyes, could take precedence over sending their children to school. Times have changed much since Amma chided that nobody would be asked about Tamil movies in a scholarship interview.

Coolie is made to appease Rajnikanth's fans, period. It is like watching 'Kill Bill'. Nobody should ask who Bill is, and why we should kill Bill. Just Kill Bill, and it was so good that it needed a sequel.

Kudos to the story writers for being able to keep their audience engaged in this long movie, which actually had continuity. Nevertheless, there were some glaring faux pas, like an MPV cannot escape from a rickety motorcycle in a car chase and how the bad guys always have the opportunity to keep up with the good guys. Shhh! You are not supposed to ask questions. Kudos to his make-up team and CGI, Rajni, looks good for his part. The fighting scenes? Forget it. Ten, twenty, hundred, no problem. He does not have to move much. The baddies will go flying without inflicting even an abrasion. At the end of the movie, he goes away with a band-aid on his temple. That is all.

Coolie (1995)

His movie is about nostalgia. His age-old opening credit, 'Super Star Rajni' appearing in single letters, has appeared all the way from the 90s. To mark his 50th anniversary in Tamil films, snippets of old visuals are used to reminisce about his quirky mannerisms. All in all, they are banking on nostalgia. The story is masala, and Tamil cinema has much more to offer, but who cares? It's Rajni! The movie may be studded with megastars from the Sandalwood, Tollywood, Mollywood and even Bollywood, to make this a pan-Indian fare, but they all appear as pale shadows of whom they came to see... Rajnikanth!

(P.S. In 1995, there was a movie by the same name, Coolie, starring Mr Muscle Man and Mr Madras, Sarath Kumar and Meena.)

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Jailer (2023)
Director: Nelson Dilipkumar

This is a Thalaiva movie. Period. Nobody else matters. A trip down memory lane of what stunts he could do and how he managed to maintain a fanbase after all these years is all that made the difference. It did not matter that the services of all the great Indian actors from all char dhams of Indian cinemas had made a cameo appearance here. It is immaterial that Padaiappa’s arch nemesis, Neelambari, is made to look like a lizard on the wall, clicking occasionally. Who cares about the holes in the fantastical storyline that would make a schoolboy cringe? It is Rajnikanth. Superstar is back!

This is what I missed wondering why everyone was praising Rajni’s latest release to high heaven. Even the usually level-headed ones are also pulled into the merriment. It is not about the story or realism. It is an experience, an immersion, and something entrenched in the psyche. Blame it on Tamil Nadu’s early politics and the involvement of screenwriters, musicians, actors and lyricists with local leaders; cinema is not only an escape route to the mundane, unsettling daily lives but a direction towards how the state should be.

Overall, a Tamil masala movie embodies what life is, how justice should be served and what the philosophy of life is all about.

A lot of responsibilities were placed on the shoulders of Nelson Dilipkumar after Rajnikanth’s past few performances have not really been outstanding. Nelson is a newcomer with previous successes in action thrillers with dark humour.

The recurring opening intertitle since the 90s.

Per his usual persona, Rajni appears as a benign and unassuming retiree jailer who carries life performing his prayers, playing with his grandson and doing work around the house. He morphs into a fire-breathing dragon (@dinosaur - a side joke in the movie), just like in Basha when his son, a police officer, goes missing and is apparently put down by baddies. He does not have to create a new punch dialogue, as reminiscing his previous lines is already more than adequate.

Jailer Muthu assumes his previous avatar of a ruthless prison warden to settle the score with all the gangsters around town. He uses his remote-control tactics to mobilise his reformed gang leaders to help him out. Rajni just has to slit a few throats and fire a few shots. He does not have dance in set dances. All Muthu has to do, is wave his spectacles and snap his fingers.

That is Thalaiva for you. A must for die-hard fans who yearn for the serotonin-infused feeling they felt during Rajni’s blockbusters of the 80s, Murrattu Kaalai and Muthu, for one. It does not matter if it defies logic. It is an experience. Indulge. Nerupudaa! Atharluthuleh? ஆதரத்துலே?