Coolie - Power House
So, here I am, struggling with insomnia, trying to remember any twists in plot or clever dialogs in Coolie that would leave a lasting impression on me. Frankly, not a thing. In fact, other than The Legendary Actor, there is little in Coolie that could leave any sort of impression. Could this the onset of age-related dementia? Or is it perhaps that I too have fallen into the bottomless pit of virtual reality and have stopped paying attention? Or perhaps...
I was a newlywed when a Rajinikanth movie first caught my attention, leading to my unyielding hero worship of this man. The movie was Muthu, and what drew me was not the comedy or the charming leading ladies. Rather it was the poetry of it all, being astounded by the overarching Tamil ethos that augmented a relatively believable plot. The mix of earthy philosophy and moral dilemma that would make a zamindar transform into a mendicant, leaving his son to the very people who disavowed him; this is the stuff of itihasa and purana. I would look for this type of theme in every Thalaivar film I saw, and finding it even in the pure entertainment of Sivaji and Enthiran, made it the archetype of what the cult of Rajinikanth is all about.
And, in himself, Rajinikanth the man is still, without doubt, the embodiment of that. What else could explain a gaggle of Gen Z Indian Americans putting aside their obsession with their phones to sit through three hours of Pan-Indian cinema? Coming out the of the theater, however, I could only wonder. What significant soulful impact is there in Coolie to capture the imagination of these youngsters the way Muthu captured me?
Therein my friends, is the rub of it. Coolie, like several other movies before it is essentially the same, soulless, video game called Pan-Indian Cinema. An aging anti-hero with a dark past goes on a killing spree of bloodthirsty villains simply out of vengeance, all the while hinting at another identity only a sequel will explain. Now, I say all this not to discourage anyone from seeing this movie. It is, through and through, non-stop entertainment in which each and every scene is focused on the swag of the most celebrated actor in human history. There is something of a story to it too...somewhere...oh, and if there is a message, it is that we all should give up drinking lest we wind up sitting in a souped up electric chair.
But, the real electricity - the innocence, the mythology, even the good, clean comedy that once trademarked his films, no longer belongs in this age of the stoic, AI -game-like hero. Still, the charm of this man, the aura of this man, albeit with a great deal of license, will keep him forever as our Thalaiva.
What I wouldn't give, though, to see an item song like Kilimanjaro, again.
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