“Coolie PowerHouse Aeee“
Overview
Coolie was one of the most anticipated films of this year. In fact, even after clashing with War 2, Coolie had unimaginable hype. It did an advance booking worth more than ₹100 Crores.
A 75-year-old superstar is still carrying his aura, after giving 50 years to the film industry. Rajinikanth fans are always loyal to him. In fact, morning 4 AM shows were housefull in Mumbai on the day of its release. Now let’s jump to the review and see what Lokesh Kanagaraj has “crafted” this time.
I was sitting in a 6 AM show on the first day and it was housefull. Audiences went wild and turned theatres into stadiums. In Mumbai, Rajinikanth gave back-to-back housefull shows and fans were watching twice or thrice in the cinema halls.
I was sitting in a Tamil show with English subtitles and what I found more shocking is that very few Tamilians were there and other people were just watching to see the aura of Rajinikanth.
Spoiler Warning
This review will have some spoilers. So if you are just looking for the verdict or recommendation to decide if you wish to watch it in theatres or not, skip to the last paragraph.
Background Music
Anirudh literally gave his best, totally mass elements. In fact, in the Hindi version also, audiences are getting connected with it. When “Powerhouse” starts playing in the film, it was really a wild experience. The film has all the mass elements which a mass movie requires, except story. He carried the whole film on his shoulders. He’s really a superstar or rockstar, whatever you call him, but he also deserves equal credit for this film
Acting and Cameos
See, we all know acting kam hi hoti hai in films mein, but I want to praise Soubin Shahir as Dayal. He was literally outstanding during the whole film. The twists and turns of his character were the best thing happening in the film.
Nagarjuna as Simon was looking ruthless. Nagarjuna did his best and for the first time played an antagonist. For his background score and character, Director Lokesh has taken some references from DC’s Joker character but they weren’t clearly visible. We also heard that he has taken some Breaking Bad references in the film, so as a curious Breaking Bad fan, I was excited more for the film but hardly found any references of Heisenberg.
Bass Sathyaraj as Rajshekhar ko scientist dikha diya, aagaya Heisenberg aisa kaam nahi chalta hai bhai.
Shruti Haasan as Preethi was alright, no complaints. Jitna role diya gaya tha, acha tha, decent tha, kaafi tha.
Rachita Ram as Kalyani — mind blown bhaiiii, mind blown. Totally unexpected. For a second mujhe Agent Tina from Vikram ki yaad aagayi but wo level nahi match kar paayi.
Upendra as Kaleesha oh brooo, hands down, what an entry, what an elevation, what a background score for Upendra. In fact, not even the Kannada industry has utilised him like this. Dekho, entry aakhir mein hoti hai, uska kuch zyada kaam nahi tha but entertaining tha.
Aamir Khan as Dahaa — a very small and wasted cameo. He looked cool, as a character, he was very different, but the problem was the writing. He needed to be ruthless, a mafia coming from Mexico when things went downhill, but they made him a joke. Even his father was a joke, not needed at all.
Now let’s talk about Thalaivar Rajinikanth as Deva. His walk, his style, his aura, everything was perfect. Lokesh presented Rajinikanth perfectly. It was such a treat to witness this aura on big screens and at the age of 75, the legend is unstoppable. Ab ek kadwa sach – Jailer and Vettaiyan were far better than this.
Some Kuch Bhi Moments
- I know iss section mein kaafi log offend hone wale hai aur ismei kaafi spoilers bhi honge.
- Simon forcefully hits the hammer on Dayal’s head and Simon beats Dayal more without any mercy. So much so that he was considered dead. After that, Dayal comes out alive without any pain or nothing and he kidnapped Preethi also without any pain or medical treatment.
- And they name that condition as “Lazarus Syndrome” which is a fictional thing. Yes, I know doctors isse medical phenomenon kehte hai but if they are showing these things then show perfectly. I know Lokesh researched for this a lot but the execution on big screen wasn’t proper.
- One big question — how does Simon come to know that Dayal is an imposter? Movie mein bhi nahi dikhaya ye toh.
- Repetitive mind games from Dayal and Kalyani — same scenes again getting repeated. The runtime becomes stretched then and it makes audiences irritated. Isse zyada nahi kahunga, gaaliyaan doge varna.
- Why did they need that chair to burn bodies? They had a private port, yuhi burn kar dete? Okay, they were in shipping business, right? Toh samundar mein fek dete. Itni mehnat karne ki kya zarurat thi?
- Shruti Haasan was literally paid in lakhs. Even after splitting with Deva, she was getting multiple bundles every time. Why was she stiil poor?
- What was Dayal’s ultimate goal?
- What did Dahaa really want? He came after Simon messed up but what did he do finally?
- The Watch thing was highlighted so much in the promos, but really had no real importance in the film.
- Why did Deva not tell Preethi he was her father?
- Powerhouse was such an important element; it was the main theme of the film, and in Hindi, it was in the title. And what it turned out to be? Just a liquor brand that he drinks in one scene?
Apart from these loose ends, many scenes were exaggerated for no reason. So while the fans would enjoy the film, there are others who expect more from cinema than just mass moments.
A-rated Certification?
I mean why? No bloodshed, no bloodbath. Even some abuses were muted. Iss movie se zyada khoon toh Baaghi 4 ke teaser mein tha sirf. I wonder why makers opted for A A-rated certification. There were literally zero elements which can be considered A-rated. Not even one. I’m saying zero.
Most Loved Things
The de-aging, the young Rajinikanth it was so so perfect. They did it the right way, they worked on the color grade, had the film-grain filter, and it looked so accurate. Aisa lag raha tha kisi 90’s ki film se clips liye hai, wo itna real tha.
Lokesh’s usual Identity Trope was there this time as well.. but iss baar wo perfection nahi thi, but dikhayi de raha tha. Simon and other villains came to know at the end that he’s Coolie 5821, but throughout the film his identity was a secret. for those who don’t know abhi kis bare mein bola – “Kya cinephile banega re tu.”
One Question for Makers
They had everything — a superstar from every industry, a legend like Rajinikanth, producer as Sun Pictures, director like Lokesh Kanagaraj, rockstar like Anirudh, action choreographer as Anbariv — then also fans and audiences are quite disappointed. Why have they done this to their fans?
Final Verdict
Dekho, film achi hai, mass hai, badiya background music hai. Overall entertainment toh ho hi jaayega. But I really miss Vikram aur Kaithi wala Lokesh Kanagaraj. He delivered his best in Vikram. Many Rajini fans are blaming Lokesh for this and saying Vikram was just a fluke for Lokesh, but no — Lokesh will definitely mark his redemption with Kaithi 2 and he’ll definitely make LCU bigger. He has a lot of potential.
The storyline of Coolie was really a one-liner with 1000 unnecessary subplots.
Final OCD Times Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Author: Mohit Khetwani
Cast – Rajinikanth, Aamir Khan, Nagarjuna, Upendra, Sathyaraj, Shruti Haasan, Soubin Shahir, and others.
Director – Lokesh Kanagaraj
Release – 14 August 2025
Produced by – Kalanithi Maran
Studio – Sun Pictures
Also check out: War 2 – Movie Review
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Very sensible take.
I enjoyed it thoroughly but spotted and felt all the loopholes and unnecessary subplots.
It was a golden chance to go one level above kaithi and vikram with all the best resources but loki missed his target – But we believe in talented directors like him