Since weeks, it’s all been about Kabali. This Rajini starrer flick is something fans have been looking forward to ever since it went on grounds. If you’re unknown to the Kabali Mania, it’s time you move out from that remote island you’ve been inhabiting. In our last two blogs, we covered how the world has been struck with Kabali fever and the extent to which crazy Anna fans went to bestow their love on Superstar Rajinikanth. This blog however, is from the point of view of someone who has never been a Rajini fan, never watched any of his movies and isn’t really a fan of Tollywood.
Hmm, interesting.
When a friend calls you up in the evening asking for watching Kabali, you don’t say yes easily. Mainly because you’ve always considered Tollywood to be over dramatic, and you’re too cool for them. But you make an exception this time for you are dying to know what the hype is about, especially with this movie that is everywhere you go. The search for appropriate show timings begin and you feel blessed for being a resident of Chennai, because finding tickets for Kabali at the last moment is next to impossible there. There’s a 4 am show for Kabali in Chennai by the way, 4 fucking am. And it’s HOUSEFUL.
Tickets, booked. Seats, perfect. Theatre, full. Let the feature presentation begin.
Let me just take a quick detour here to state how ads in theatres are annoying and should be discontinued asap. If we really wanted to see advertisements, there’s no point paying that much money. You could directly broadcast it on television and we could all be happy and not complain. People who want to smoke will continue to do so no matter how many “dhumrapaan padega mehenga” ads you put. Vicco products will not be bought by anyone no matter how many foreigners you introduce in the advertisement. Please take a note, you guys!
After the soliloquy “iss sheher ho yeh hua kya”, Kabali begins. The film starts with the Malaysian police discussing the release of Kabaleeshwar, aka Kabali after 25 years of prison. The matter is huge because the whole police force looks worried, which suggests that the guy has been a very important catch for the police. They’re worried that if he comes out, gangsterism will gain grounds again which they tried hard to curb. This suggests Kabali isn’t a saint in the movie. What follows is absolute marvel that I later came to know is called as the typical Rajini entrance. He’s all suited up, ready to go out and kick some ass despite people telling him to chill and not do anything that’ll take him back there. He walks out, like a boss, and there’s no one else I can imagine who could do it more stylishly. He absolutely owns the scene here, your eyes are fixated on his face only.
Rajinikanth, who’s 65 in real life plays his age in the movie except some flashback scenes where it’s totally evident that a lot of makeup is stuffed onto his face. His wife is played by Radhika Apte, who looks and is way too young to be doing that. The couple don’t quite add up together, which you can ignore for most of the screen space is occupied by Rajinikanth only. Another actress plays Kabali’s daughter who is pretty good looking and acts decently. There are other supporting characters who have done a good job at acting, however the dialogues they are given are funny (at least in Hindi).
I’m not going to get into the story and everything because frankly it was way to complicated for me to comprehend. There are a lot of instances in the movie where I found myself saying “what the fuck just happened” without any answer. I feel the reason why this happened was because of the translation fuck up. If you watch the movie in Tamil (given that you know the language), you’ll probably have more fun than I did. There’s a dialogue in the movie where Roopa (Kabali’s wife) says “main tumhaare kaale rang mein rangna chahti hu” as an excuse for falling in love with a dark skinned guy. That may have sounded romantic in Tamil, but in Hindi it sounded damn cheesy.
There’s a particular plot where Kabali and his daughter Yogi find out where Roopa (Kabali’s wife) is. First, they say she’s in Chennai and when they go there, she apparently moved to America. Again we’re told that no, she’s now in France with some Penelope. Heartbroken Kabali plans on going to France which is when they come to know that Penelope has come for a vacation in Pondicherry (believable, yes) and that Roopa is with her. Kabali gets all excited and they drive all the way to Pondicherry only to find themselves at someone else’s house. They then come to know she’s in a different house, where people are not allowed to enter after 6 in the evening. Kabali has to wait for another night to meet his beloved wife who he thought was dead. In the morning they go to Penelope’s place where she takes them to meet Roopa is a very Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi Title Track way. Kabali and Yogi reunite with Roopa and you’re probably wondering what was the point of all this.
So basically, if you’re a Rajini fan, this movie review isn’t going to stop you from watching Kabali. If you’re not, I’d suggest you to watch and experience yourself, however, kindly don’t overstress your brain trying to understand things happening in front of you because you don’t want to complicate your already complicated life. Watch it for Rajinikanth’s absolutely brilliant screen presence and enigmatic style that is just unbeatable. If you don’t, nobody cares because it’ll be making crores anyway.
Bohot Khoob.
