Kabali review: "Didnt evoke as much neruppu or maghizchi as expected!!!"

After months of impatient waiting, Thalaiva is here with "Kabali" hitting the screens all over the world this weekend. Such has been the impact of the brilliant trailer & promotional events, that the excitement had literally hit sky high (thanks to Air Asia). So delirious has been the response of the public that some companies even decided to give holiday for their employees to check out the movie. The question now is whether this unprecedented hype has hurt the prospects of the flick or can the Superstar satiate the lofty expectations of his fans???

The film unfolds in Malaysia where Kabali (Rajini) was released from jail after having served 25 years of imprisonment for a falsely framed crime that took the life of many including his wife. He had initially made his mark as a leader of the Malaysian Tamil community before he became the trusted lieutenant of the gangster Tamilnesan (Nasser) who was assassinated by rivals such as Tony Lee (Winston Chao), Veera (Kishore) & Co. This saw Kabali ascend to the position of power much to the displeasure of the others who hatched the plan to have him jailed. Even after release, his enemies were relentless in their efforts to see the end of him that they hired assassins but to no avail. So does the ageing don have it in him to exact revenge on his foes???

One of the most promising directors that has emerged from the Tamil industry in recent times is Pa Ranjith who displayed his talent with movies like "Attakathi" & "Madras". So when "Kabali" was announced, it was believed to be a marriage between mass & class. However, the fact is the movie came short on both accounts. It definitely had the scope to become more meaningful considering the backdrop of the story such as injustice to the Tamil community, mafia etc. But it seemed the writer in Ranjith was content to just touch the emotional cord & skim over the rest which virtually proved to be the bane of the movie. I love to watch Rajani in a character backed role but not at the cost of his aura which includes his swagger, punch dialogues etc. The only sequences that we get goosebumps in the whole movie is pretty much shown in the trailer as the wait for a cracking climax proved to be futile. In the technical department, Santhosh Narayanan needs to be applauded for his impressive music & impactful BGM. Murali has done a decent job with the visuals while Praveen K L ought to have been better with his editing.

The superstar has done justice to his role with his screen presence & acting skills (which other directors rarely make him do) as he was impressive in the emotional scenes.  He is the backbone of the movie & does his best to resurrect it even when it meanders along at a lethargic pace. Radhika Apte barely got adequate screen space but still manages to showcase her talent. Dhansika rocked as Yogi while Kishore and Dinesh Ravi did their parts aptly. 

Verdict: Rajani movies are expected to deliver earth shattering initials & this time around, thanks to the awesome trailer it would surely break all the records. However,  the lack of a captivating storyline along with a toned down mass formula will not appeal to many of the audience. But if you would ask me, watch it for Rajani provided you dont have much expectations!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Sultan review: "Poised to become the Sultan of box office this year!!!"

On the auspicious occasion of Eid, may Allah shower his blessings on each one of us. Apart from the celebration of breaking the fast, it's time to check out some entertainers & Bollywood expectantly displays its wares to cash in on the festive mood. As in the previous years, Eid heralds the release of a Salman flick & this time around we have his "Sultan" hitting the screens. The promos has been a mixed bag with it's trailer being well received while Salman's irresponsible statement a couple of weeks back in comparison with the stunts of the movie being aptly slammed. So will it affect the overall collections???

In recent times, several sports leagues had mushroomed in the country & the latest to join the bandwagon was the MMA event, Pro Take Down. Though launched with much fanfare, it was now on the brink of shutting down & as a last ditch effort, the entrepreneur Akash Oberoi (Amit Sadh) decides to recruit the services of yester year champion wrestler, Sultan (Salman Khan). However, Sultan who was reduced to a pale shadow of his former self refused to step back into the ring. So what had made him to walk away from the sport when he was at the peak of his powers???

Ali Abbas Zafar has been a constant name in many of the Yash Raj productions in the past decade & "Sultan" marks his third directorial venture after "Gunday" and "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan". This is surely his best among the lot though it doesnt tread on unfamiliar territory & banks on standard sports movie cliches. As one would expect, it's the oft discussed tale of the rise of the underdog who falters in between before making it back on top again. The second half kinda reminded me of "Brothers" which also dealt with MMA & focused on the conflict between siblings rather than the couple here. But what sets this apart is the fact that we get to see the character Sultan & not Salman which is kinda unheard of since Salman's persona invariably takes over the character in almost all his movies. Equally brilliant was the realistically choreographed wrestling sequences while the MMA fights could have been better. At close to 3 h, Rameshwar Bhagat could have done away with a couple of songs. The music by Vishal Shekhar was average at best however the BGM was pretty impressive.

We never associate Salman for his acting skills as his movies are invariably about wholesome entertainment in true Salman style be it his comedy, characteristic dance moves or bare torso. However, that opinion will change after one watches this as he has done a wonderful job. This was a role which required him to showcase his varied emotions along with the physical exertion & he has done it with elan. Anushka gets a meaty role early on which she gleefully bites into before getting sidelined in the latter half. In addition, Randeep Hooda rocked in a brief role along with Anant Sharma as Govind, Amit Sadh & Kumud Mishra as Anushka's father.

Verdict: The film has all the makings of a blockbuster & likely to set records on a regular basis with a credible probability of crossing 300 C. It doesn't boast of a script which offers anything new in terms of the story-line but one can rest assured that we will see Salman in a new avatar. In short, it's a paisa vasool entertainer!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben