Kabali Movie Review - Boring movie

Movie Name  :  Kabali
Rating            :  2.5 / 5
Starring         :  Rajinikanth, Radhika Apte, Dhansika, Winston Chao, John Vijay, Nasser, Dinesh, Kalairasan, Kishore and Others
Banner           : Shanmukha Films
Story              :  Pa. Ranjith
Music             : Santosh Narayanan
Cinematography : Murali G
Editing            :  K.L. Praveen
Producer        : K.P. Chowdhary and Praveen Kumar Varma
Screen play & Direction :  Pa. Ranjith
Date of Release  :  22nd July, 2016

It is a well known fact that there is no bigger star than Rajnikanth in South India.   The release of a film being celebrated as a Festival is vary rare case.  But it happens every time Rajnikant's movie is released.  Kabali release is also being celebrated like a festival by some of the companies in Chennai declaring holiday for their offices.  From posters to teaser and making video, it is a sensation.  The expectations kept growing day by day and finally the movie was released on 22nd July, 2016.  But had the movie "Kabali"  really created that much sensation?  let us see..

The trailer of the movie has set new records in America.  Special flights were arranged for the premiere shows of the Kabali Movie.   

Story  :

Kabali ( Rajnikant ) is given 25 years of jail for a case in Malaysia.  The story of the movie begins as he comes out of the jail after 25 years.  He launches a school for his gang members so that they can come out from the mafia.  When these young gangsters asked him how he went to jail,  he tells them the full story.  He gets married to Kundanavalli ( Radhika Apte ) and then rises as a gangster in a short time.

One of the gang members ( Kishore ) is jealous of the Kabali's rise and plans to kill him and his wife who is pregnant.  So Kundanavalli gets killed in the attack and the furious Kabali kills them.  So he lands in the jail.  In the present day, in a sudden twist he meets his daughter ( Dhansika ) and he comes to know that his wife is still alive and living in India.. So Kabali flies to India to search for his wife and is riddled with lot of problems.

Kabali finds that his empire and family decimated after his release from jail.  He finds that Kaula Lampur is being ruled by Tony Lee.  So he sets out on a misson to take revenge on Tony Lee.  The rest of the story is all about Kabali taking his revenge.

Performance of artists  :

We can find a different Rajnikant in this film.  He is very terrific in an ageing role.  All his expressions, his walking style etc..  are all super.  After the interval, when he goes to find his wife, we see some of the great acting from him.  One of the drawback in this film is lack of Rajni fan moments.  The fans expect some cachy dialogues, but there are not many cachy dialogues to enjoy.  It is completely Rajnikant's movie.  Radhika Apte has given commendable performance.  Dhansika steals the show.  There are many Tamil actress whom we do not know. Dhansika is one of them who has given best performance.  

Technical aspects of the movie  :

The movie Kabali has high technical values and rich production values.  Director succeeds in showing the film in a realistic way.  Some of the scenes which exploit Rajini's   emotions and character showcase his brilliance as a writer and director.  How ever the film seems to be a little show.   The camera work is good and some action stunts are good.  Songs are not that much good, but the background score by Santosh Narayanan is perfect.   Editing work is very good but needs to be trimmed in second half.  

Highlights of the movie  :

Rajnikant,  only Rajnikanth  Rajnikanth....

How ever some of the drawbacks of the movie are :

Boring script and slow pace

Lack of entertainment and no  punch dialogues
Melodrama in the second half
Lack of novelty
Too much of violence

Confusion.

Overall analysis of the movie  :

Kabali is a huge let down.  The movie is quite different from what the trailer and teasers have shown.  You will be under wrong impression if you expect "Basha" like mafia don movie after seeing the trailers,  then you are under a wrong impression.  

Kabali is a confused drama - half of the movie seems that it is all about a family drama, and the last 30 minutes show a total different picture - the gang wars.  The emotional build is perfect in the first 20 minutes where Rajnikant comes out of the jail as an ageing guy looking for family and roots.  The trouble starts only when comes to know that he has a daughter and then he comes to know that his wife is still alive..  The story goes in different direction from here.  How he tries to find his wife is told in a most boring way.  The interval shoot out is quite interesting.

The second half begins with Rajnikant on a mission to find his wife.  When he finally finds his wife,  the director has focussed on another aspect of the movie - the fighting between two gangs.  

We do not get any relief because there is no comedy, no songs and no punch dialogues. There are no strong villains.  In the climax alone we can see the heroism of Rajnikant. Before we see only violent episodes which do not connect to the main story.    

There are too many Tamil style conversations and scenes in the movie.  When Rajnikant talks o a group of children who are studying in at his reform-school,  it is like seeing a non-dubbed tamil movie.  We do not understand the conversation that is going on there.  There are too many such scenes.

A normal person expects the elevation of heroism, stylish dialogues and some good action episodes from a Rajnikant movie.  But all these are missing in Kabali.  We can only see him wearing different coats, suits and laughing.  A lengthy episode of Rajnikant to find his wife is boring and induces sleep.

The song "Nippu ra" is not at all effective in the movie.  There are no songs except that they are played in the back ground.  There is no entertainment at all in this movie.  The director failed to handle Ranjikant in this movie. 

So it is better not to watch this Kabali movie of Rajnikant....