A Superstar film release means it's a festival. The sound of firecrackers (Nataraj Theatre, Bangalore) reached me at 5 AM today while I was at home dreaming about Kabali's dialogues and action scenes.
Is the hype around the film worth it? Well, that's another story for another day. Here, I try to wrap my head around Rajini, the actor.
Kamal Haasan can make a Viswaroopam, Uttama Villain, and Papanasam, and walk away with praises. But it's not the same for a Rajinikanth film. People expect lengthy dialogues from the Star. Rajini just needs to fill up the screen with his presence and charisma; that's probably enough for crores of fans to feel satisfied. How then did he agree to star in Kabali which doesn't make use of his stardom? Is he trying to change tracks like Amitabh Bachchan has done? Can we expect a Piku from him soon? The answer might be a negative one since his next film is with Shankar who is known for making larger than life movies. While Sivaji and Endhiran, directed by Shankar, highlight Rajini's magnetic power, Ranjith pulls us back to our seats and shows us how good the star can be as an actor.
The Star smiles gently, fights like a 30-year-old, walks like a tiger eyeing its prey; and yet there's something about his performance that makes us revisit the actor in him. He is not accompanied by Goundamani, Vadivelu, or Santhanam. He is surrounded by supporting actors (most of them were a part of 'Madras', too). Were the cast members nervous about sharing the screen space with Rajini? We'll never know unless we watch the making videos and interviews.
Rajini has made a habit of appearing in various looks in his films. He's even played dual and triple roles in his earlier films. Kabali has a flashback which requires the actor to look young, and he does it with perfection. Of course, you can see that he's much older than Radhika Apte, but the two of them share a chemistry that puts our worries about their age-gap to an end.
Had Rajini starred in at least half of dozen films such as this in the 80s, his stardom would have taken a different route altogether. I'm not saying he's untouchable now. All I'm saying is that he's done a great job, and his mentor K. Balachander would have been really happy if he had seen his protege shine on-screen the way he does in Kabali.
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