Coolie (2025) Movie Review: Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Love Letter to Rajnikanth Wants to be ‘Vikram’ But Settles for an Inferior Version of ‘Jailer’

Lokesh Kanagaraj is one of the bright poster boys of the new-age Tamil film directors. He is able to successfully integrate the commercialization (read masala) with coherence and general exuding of style into a distinctive voice, while also not compromising on his influences of action movies—be it the slugfests of Stallone and Schwarzenegger or the intense thrillers of Fincher—as well as drawing extensive inspiration from Korean imports as well.

In short, Kanagaraj’s wide-ranging interests help him serve a potboiler garnished with DC Comics influences for extra flair. This versatility makes his work enjoyable and enables him to carve out a niche while building a loyal fan following. Such support not only bolsters his reputation but also gives him the freedom to create a star vehicle for Rajnikanth, with one of the most impressive ensemble casts in recent memory, including actors from various regional industries.

But this also brings forth a different challenge: the cracks within the legend of Lokesh Kanagaraj becoming a gyre. If “Kaithi” (2019) was the debut of a bright star signaling a change in Tamil cinema, “Vikram” (2022) was an explosion, introducing the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU) and redefining the regional action blockbuster. Yet, “Leo” (2023), fueled by LCU hype, was the first stumble—a misfire from adhering too closely to the standard commercial cinema template in the second half, which undermined a compelling character study. Coolie’s failure, however, runs deeper—here, Lokesh’s admiration for his stars blunts his writing and screenplay skills.

Looking at “Coolie,” one would be misled to believe that a typical Rajnikanth movie’s screenplay is this disjointed. That would also be insulting to potpourri or masala storytelling, whereby a mixture of genres and tones, or giving forth elevation to the stars, would be produced at the expense of narrative. Kanagaraj tries to give Rajnikanth (his 50th year in the industry) his own version of the 2022 film “Vikram.” To that end, the first half of “Coolie” very much feels like an investigation—an unfurling of the plot, with few kooky bits and little of the impishness one associates with a Rajnikanth vehicle. It’s the end of the first half; the macguffin is completely forgotten for a moment, stretching the suspension of disbelief that propels the film towards a second half that feels like a side mission of a video game given far more priority than the main plot.

Or, to put it plainly, Lokesh essentially recreates director Nelson Dilipkumar’s 2023 film “Jailer,” not just in its narrative structure but also in how Nelson had used Rajnikanth’s star aura as a conduit for his character, functioning more as a facilitator than as the executor of stunts or elaborate action set pieces. The issue lies in the contrasting filmmaking styles of Kanagaraj and Nelson. Nelson employs violence with deadpan commentary and minimal motion, while Kanagaraj focuses on stylized set pieces.

This leads to Kanagaraj having to slow down and simplify his usually elaborate action sequences, mainly due to Rajnikanth’s age. That’s not a slight on the overall execution of the action set-pieces. On the contrary, Kanagraj’s use of mocobot and the precision within the action set-pieces still gives a sense of added joy, highlighting the intensity of the craft employed, but sacrificing almost everything else. He also heavily relies on the charisma of the ensemble cast and a convoluted plot in the second half, overlaid on a traditional “Baasha” or “A History of Violence” framework, complete with a flashback.

Resultantly, it’s a bloated mess, which is somewhat salvaged by Anirudh Ravichander’s magnificent score, Girish Gangadharan’s neon-lit and burnished cinematography, and, of course, Rajnikanth himself. As much as the narrative threatens to fray, Rajnikanth’s somewhat low-key interpretation of his stardom into the character of Deva gives him an air of experience and automatically assigns him a colorful past, seamlessly mixing in his charisma and easy penchant for comedy. The surprise addition is Soubin Shahir as Dayal, henchman to Simon (Nagarjuna), who becomes a very instrumental player in the second half. His narrative arc contributes significantly to the convoluted bloat, but there’s no denying that his performance is compelling, as are Kanagraj’s choices in editing and even inverting certain tropes that he had popularized in his prior movies.

But for every small step forward, there are gigantic steps backward for director Kanagaraj. If Kanagaraj utilized Rajnikanth’s restrained stardom, as well as allowed the anticipation for Upendra’s entry to marinate, his failure to actually craft a compelling villainous character for Nagarjuna is utterly baffling. If Shruti Haasan’s Preethi is a response by Kanagaraj to the deserved criticism of his female characters being mostly set dressing or plot devices, this portrayal won’t change anyone’s mind. Preethi is integral to the plot, and Haasan is genuinely good in her role, but Kanagaraj never completely makes us believe in that character as being anything but a plot device, especially in the second half. The Aamir Khan cameo is an absolutely nonessential part of the film; its inclination to be anything but a bait to lure the North Indian audience in to see the film is undeniable.

In Kanagaraj’s filmography, as he began to work with stars like Thalapathy Vijay or Kamal Haasan, the inevitable question would arise on the ratio of the film being a star vehicle or a Kanagaraj directorial. In that regard, “Coolie” is not just a Rajnikanth vehicle; it is unmistakably a Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial as well, replete with his signatures. We, however, now know what a bad Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial looks like, and “Coolie” is arguably his weakest film.

Read More: The Rajinikanth Effect: How Thalaivar’s Meteoric Charm Forged A Cultural Phenomenon

Coolie (2025) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
Coolie (2025) Movie Cast: Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Sathyaraj, Shruti Haasan, Aamir Khan, Reba Monica John

Where to watch Coolie