Kabali – Rajini crosses the chasm

I was afraid to see Rajini’s film the first day, separating the fact that I  never liked him post 90s. Apart from focussing the movie, you have to bring your attention back to your idiosyncratic way of seeing a movie – every other scene , the crowd erupts and it is a problem if you don’t like the scene ( the other way is even more painful – you feel choked and others laugh). After  my cousin called up on Thursday morning , this review, this video – I decided to see it the second day , for I was convinced that the crowd would become an inactive volcano post the first 15 minutes, for the superstar has tried to fit into a character’s shoe after many years .

Probably , the story of Gangster is a safe ride to cross the chasm for RajiniKanth ji and Ranjith. A Gangster has a style, a full circle of emotions and is in a unique position to have his family guillotined to the power wars and most importantly betrayal stirs and changes trajectory of the characters and the story. After giving away the first  and last 15 minutes to the adrenaline starved fans, the movie is pretty much Ranjith’s – superstar with his 30 years of stardom folds into it.

Conceptually, the movie is layered well – there is the search for his family and search for retribution opportunities.  The layering is heavy on the former  and the unfolding his connection with the family mingles well with the gang wars. For instance, consider the interval block – beautifully crafted : Kabali is in penchant search for his family, finds one  and his life saved momentarily, only to be jolted by an ‘adopted’ one( who wants to save her another relation)  . I found that part very philosophical – there is a chain , a flow , a folding for search of his family leading to a trouble. Wonderful.

How refreshing is to see Rajini act ? His  restrained acting in hallucinations on his wife works well, it helps to expand the facets of the character. The lead up to search of his family is wonderful – his dichotomy of feeling like a bird that is freed and yet caged mentally is juxtaposed well with the landscape of Gangster. He does struggle in certain scenes but this is a refreshing manifestation by the superstar.( Was it intentional that it is shot in long shot when Kabali breaks down upon hearing the news of his wife, in later portions? Your normally do that in close-ups ..Somehow i felt so:() . The longish moment when Kabali watches painfully on how Ritwika  is manipulated for drugs is a such a treat. Of course, he is saved once by Dhansika ( how many movies have you seen , for any star ?) .

Looks like the call sheet given for Madras movie was extended to Kabali – for every actor in that movie played a role here. There is a big army of ‘good’ actors on either side of the gang and some with a leg in each army. It worked well in Madras- for one , the star( Karthi)   & character played by the star is closer to earth there and each of the characters folds into the plot effortlessly from a viewer point. Over here, there is a layer of complexity – there is ‘visaranai’ Dinesh playing the loyal squirrel, Kalairasan playing an interesting aide, Ritwika playing a disturbed girl, Kishore as the Tamil face for the antagonist( oh, when will we have an effective Ghora villain?) and host of other side kicks. They do play a part, some of them switch loyalties ( in expected way though) and become the reason for an ordinary man expanding to Extraordinary .

But the connect is not strong everytime and in every character – consider the Johny character played by Dinesh. For most parts of the movie , he provides the unintentional laughs in being the HALGA ( hyper active loyal gangster aide)and doesn’t have any effect on the movement of the story. Yet, in  the final act , the same HALGA aspect works against him and in a Mysskin-ish moment he succumbs to the trap set by the opposite gang( named 43- any connect ?).

The undercurrent is what you would probably ‘think’ about , a couple of hours later after watching the film. There is a strong undercurrent of the life’s trajectory of oppressed Tamilians in Malayasia – they have a struggle , used by capitalists, cleverly manipulated and fall into prey for divide & rule power centers. This is probably pervasive in all of the characters, and yet limited in its radius. The characters transform, create new situations successfully but they don’t stick – it is fleety, and probably too dense for a movie that has Rajini playing the gangster.

Ranjith probably has struggled to reach  the hearts of the WhatsApp stimulated audience. That probably is the weakest link in the film. In the latter portions of the film, when Kabali meets Kumuthavalli, you want to feel the heart pounding , for everything is perfect – one of the best break down enactment by Radhika , a restrained but effective Rajinikanth ,Illayaraja-ish background score, a beautiful lead up to the meeting ( Kabali with his daughter Yogi had to travel oceans , plains and at the same time had to watch for the predators keeping their adrenaline level   a static high ) – but the barometer raises a bump and falls down. Ranjith would have choked writing the scene , but probably it was short to reach the heart of the passive audience.

It is a dilemma too – how do you prepare the audience for an emotional moment in Rajini’s film ? It is easier if it was revenge, betrayal – but to plant the seed of a strong longingness of Kabali for his wife is  mighty  difficult – he tries all sorts to make this connect – a romance based on ideals than kisses, a separation when Radhika Apte was carrying the next generation, a Heyram-ish hallucination of recollection of past ( Remember Nee Partha.. from HeyRam ) . Even the character enacted by Ritvika ( beautifully done , probably the best etched and scoped character in the film after Kabali) edges Kabali to the past , somewhere deep down he wants her to be the daughter – he failed to save his family and now he wants to save her as a redemption – the connect is wonderful. Ranjith has got everything right in his frames and intention – but the audience were cold and it became the noisiest part of the movie and noise came from behind the scenes  (I know , this causes agony to  a sincere writer, director.)

The world is cruel Ranjith, atleast some of it. For now , you have pushed Superstar’s boundary a bit and moved him to Amitabh’s territory. Hope he finds the new territory interesting and doesn’t fall back to another KS Ravikumar’s movie.

My Rating : 7.5/10