Kabali - Movie Review

Kabali da! Neruppu da!

This has become a common mantra among youngsters (even middle-aged) for almost a month. Everyone was anxious to watch the movie, particularly first-day-first-show (FDFS). There is something about this FDFS thing, I even sometime feel that it goes beyond the level of craziness where it can be termed as ‘syndrome.’ Nevertheless, production houses with their supremely talented marketing people use this as a golden opportunity to mint money, pitching the movie to next level. And the guinea pig? You know it! But people comprehend these money-making experiments as hype, expectations and so on. Oh poor thing!

Kabali Movie Review - Creatikaa
Photo credit here

Alright! Let's talk about the movie now. Kabali is less on stardom and more on emotion. It focuses more on the Tamil Malaysian community, their problems, their treatment, their livelihood, how they tackle it and get rid of it. I was also surprised or even shocked by the unambiguous portrayal of Malaysian police.

Let us get into detail. As you know, my review is all about four prime elements of film making i.e. story, screenplay, music and performance. Here we go!

What makes you stay seated?

One man. The macho man. The show-stopper. The most electrifying man in the history of Indian cinema. The superstar himself - RAJINIKANTH. He has everything to make you glued throughout the movie. Be it his slow walks, razor-sharp expressions, majestic body language, ferocious dialogue delivery, he has it all to attract the viewers and that's why he is called the SUPERSTAR. His charisma is something I adore all the time. Besides him, Radhika apte was just brilliant and fits aptly to the character Kumudhavalli. Director Ranjith has handled her well with both powerful as well as poignant dialogues. In one scene she hits on casteism 'Who decides that these people has to dress like this?' and another scene she touches our heart saying 'Yes I was dead, until you come to see me.' Kudos to the director who used her to convey the message instead of the charismatic Rajinikanth, subtleness is appreciated. Actors John Vijay, Kishore Kumar, Nasser and Vinoth were neat in their roles as well.

Music was heavy and stands next in line that would make you seated; at times it even makes you come to the edge of the seat. Santhosh Narayanan is one such music director who has fantastic frame-sense. His numbers not just make you emote but also enhance the visual appeal of a particular scene. His effective usage of guitar riffs is simply phenomenal. Here in Kabali, bass guitar ruled the entire show (Neruppu da & Veerathuranthara). It has that reverberating effect whenever it strikes your eardrum. After gearing up the audience with his strings, Santhosh does this melody Maya Nadhi which is ear-soothing as well as emotional. Kudos to Uma devi for penning down such a lovely lyrics that glorifies love.

What could have been better?

Story and screenplay, the prime element of a movie was a big letdown. Ranjith, who astonished the whole cinema fraternity by giving movies with neat story line and gripping screenplay, has lost his way in this movie. Maybe he was careful in portraying problems of Malaysian tamil people or would have spent more time in recreating the Rajini of 90s or was completely carried away by the stardom of the actor himself. Whatever the reason might be, clearly constructed story line along with a riveting screenplay would have made this movie a better version for both Ranjith and Rajini . Characters were not efficiently defined as most of them didn't remain in our memory post the movie but it wasn't the case with Madras movie. Even the beggar (Hari) or Anbu's wife (Riythvika) who had lesser screen presence created an impact. Despite their roles importance, Dhansika and Dinesh didn't even feel connected to their role.  

Yes, Kabali has all kind of flaws. Weak story line, slow and predictable screenplay. Twist were there but wasn't really exciting. But the factual element was nicely constructed. One such thing was the problems faced by Tamil students, who find it hard to get right educational qualification and jobs. Another one was the mistreatment of Tamilians in Malaysia. Besides that he even touched upon drug and women trafficking in the movie.

While most of our writers or film makers discuss and debate about Srilankan Tamil population, Ranjith's effort in shedding light among the issue behind Malaysian Tamil population must be appreciated.

Overall, Kabali is neither a great movie nor a worst movie. It is a movie about certain perspectives. And yes, it is not a usual Rajinikanth movie with opening song, punch lines, unimaginable fight sequence and so on.

My Rating

Story - 3 / 5

Screenplay - 2 / 5

Music - 4.5 / 5

Performance - 3 / 5

Bottomline

Watch Kabali for its striking music and charismatic performance by superstar despite the flaws.

Thanks for the special screening organised by Swiggy because of which I got to see the film on the third day from the release date. And it's always important to satisfy your tummy before your visuals, so to grab some delicious food check out Swiggy food app and order, be a part of Swiggy.