Coolie Review | A Middling Gangster Flick in Terms of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Standards

The plots of most of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s gangster-vibe movies have been very crowded, with numerous subplots and parallel events happening, featuring too many characters who are somewhat important to the Story. When it comes to Coolie, his first venture with Superstar Rajinikanth, the same pattern of a subplot-heavy Story is there. But the issue is with the flow of the build-up. And if you ask me, Lokesh has the reputation of setting up iconic revealings in his filmography. Coolie, as a Story, doesn’t fit the mold of a fan service-worthy film, and thus, this sporadic inclusion of hero worship sort of makes the movie uneven.

Deva is a man who runs this men’s hostel in Chennai, and it was a very happy and normal life until he heard the news about the death of his closest friend. From his sources, Deva knew that the death of his friend wasn’t a natural one, and there were some connections with him and a harbor run by a smuggling tycoon named Simon. Deva’s efforts to find out what really happened to his close friend are what we see in Coolie.

The Story ideas of Lokesh Kanagaraj are extremely character-rich, and his scripts usually have some of these characters who are extremely important to the plot but would be played by actors who aren’t your typical stars. Agent Tina from Vikram, George Maryan’s character in Kaithi, etc., are some of the finest examples of such inclusions. In this movie, we can see such important characters played by lesser-known actors, and the fact that such characters are created for the sake of the Story is appreciable. But like I said, the packaging aspect of the movie is not able to entice the audience with something truly unique. Even though you have the heroic moments happening at a stipulated interval of time, it somehow doesn’t feel sufficient.

The USP of any Lokesh Kanagaraj movie is the fight sequences, and this film especially has an A certification because of the kind of violence it shows on screen. Even though Coolie has multiple action blocks and certain sequences that show the tactical brain of the hero, none of it really shapes into something grand. They say action blocks become great when there is a proper script to every punch. When you look at the stunt choreography of this movie, you can clearly see that there is a clear design for it. But like the movie’s script, after a point, most of them fizzled out. My favorite action block and the one that felt like a proper Lokesh Kanagaraj design was the Deva’s Mansion fight sequence, featuring Superstar.

Much like any other Lokesh Kanagaraj film, there are so many things happening on screen, and because of that, the 170 minutes of runtime doesn’t feel exhausting because, in almost every 15 minutes, you are getting some new information, and the movie has the agility in terms of plot development. But after a certain point, these new informations and twists have that slightly template feel, and because Lokesh has established his own signature through all these films, one can sense certain foulplays coming. Girish Gangadharan’s cinematography has given the movie that grounded and rugged feel in most parts, and unlike most of Lokesh’s films, this one isn’t a night-heavy film. Anirudh’s tracks are being used mostly as OSTs in the movie, and one can easily guess before the release that Chikitu and Monica are the compromises Lokesh had to make. The way they added a retro vibe to the flashback portions visually and in terms of audio felt slightly gimmicky.

Rajinikanth is playing his own age in the movie, and that grace we have seen when he flaunts the grey hair is definitely there in most of the moments. The character of Deva is mostly in a grounded space, and the superstar mode is activated only occasionally. Shruti Haasan as Preeti gets a pretty extensive role, and she handled the sentimental bits featuring her character neatly on screen. In terms of scope to perform, I would say Soubin Shahir has the best character in the movie, and he has utilized the space given to him very effectively. Nagarjuna, as the baddy Simon, lacks any sort of inhibition, and that makes Simon feel like an intimidating figure on screen, and he scored in that pre-interval scene. Sathyaraj’s role is a minimal one, and it helps the movie make the on-screen friendship look solid.

The addition of people like Upendra and Aamir Khan felt like an unnecessary move, evidently influenced by the success of something like Jailer. Upendra is totally wasted as a mere henchman. Even though some dialogue-humor and fiery flashback bits are there when Aamir’s character comes on screen, it never felt like a necessary addition to the Story. Kanna Ravi plays the role of Simon’s son, Arjun, and a special mention to Rachita Ram, who performed the part of Arjun’s love interest.

When you look at Coolie as a movie from the director of films like Vikram and Kaithi, it is indeed an underwhelming one. Every Story of Lokesh Kangaraj had the logic problems one could sense in a movie like Coolie. But most of them overcame those issues by creating sequences and elevating moments that we weren’t anticipating. Somewhere, I feel the anticipation associated with the film and the fan service balancing that happens in the making restricted this movie from taking an entirely fresh path. I hope Kaithi 2, which won’t have to include songs or fanboy moments, would be the perfect reset button for Lokesh Kanagaraj.