Coolie

Hopes were always riding high for Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie. The Tamil release is arguably 2025’s biggest blockbuster title from mainstream Indian cinema. Superstar-amplifier Lokesh is one of the hottest Indian directors, a fixture on the wishlist of most leading movie stars. After all, who wouldn’t want to be the center of a moody, bloody, hyper-stylised world—propelled by the dosage, the voltage, the entry sequence, the set pieces, the banging Anirudh soundscape, and beyond? Aside from giving Thalapathy Vijay a number of his biggest hits with Master and Leo, he also reintroduced Kamal Haasan with his crackling 2022 “comeback film” Vikram. Now, with Coolie, he sets his sights on the man whose very name is synonymous with the word ‘superstar—Rajinikanth.

2025 has been an unusual year for spectacle films (barring a few, of course), not just in Kollywood, but across the industry. ‘Coolie’, one of the most hyped films of 2025, with an amazing ensemble cast, was marketed as what could be the next big outing this year. It had every single ingredient to make it the next pan-India biggie. Director with an impeccable record - check. Rajinikanth - check. A diverse star cast. Check. The film spans multiple timelines and locations. Rajasekhar’s (Sathyaraj) death leaves his elder daughter Preethi (Shruti Haasan), and her two sisters struggling. His long-time friend Deva (Rajinikanth), who runs a mansion house, comes to pay his last respects, but Preethi lashes out and asks him to get out. Days later, Deva finds out that there is more to Rajasekhar’s death than meets the eye.

After five films, Lokesh Kanagaraj’s staples are now well known. His films teem with men embodying varying degrees of macho masculinity, vulnerability and identity crisis. Reluctant heroes drawn into battle against their will, their current pedigree not betraying their past or their abilities. The men of Maanagaram were only looking for love or an IT job or both. We don’t know what Dilli (Karthi in Kaithi) was doing before he went to prison. We meet JD (Vijay in Master) as an alcoholic college professor with no motivation to live for himself, much less for others. Vikram (Kamal Haasan in the eponymous film) retired to a life of geriatric parenthood and then he lost his son. Even Vijay’s Leo with his history of violence found a new name, new identity and an entrance into annals of the happy Indian family. And then shit happens. To all of them.