Remove the Malaysian-Tamil setting, and Kabali plays like… a Rajinikanth movie. A revenge drama.
It would be silly to expect grime and grit in a mega-budget superstar movie, but given that Pa. Ranjith is behind the camera, there is a sense of letdown.
The meat of Kabali is a gangster story that attempts to tease out some history about Malaysian Tamils. The suits Kabali wears aren’t just a fashion statement. The coat, the tie – they’re symbols of a rung of capitalism people like Kabali weren’t allowed to set foot on. (They are also a nod to Ambedkar’s sartorial tastes.) But as with Ranjith’s Madras, these are scribbles on the margins of an all-too-familiar story.
The primary narrative thread in Kabali deals with the (gang) war between Kabali and Tony Lee (Winston Chao), a purring Malay (I’m assuming) who wears his silken suits with the entitlement of generations of privilege. This conflict is, of course, a metaphor, for the antagonism between Malaysian-Tamils and natural-born Malays – but the way all this plays out is hardly new or interesting.
At least some of the lightness, the lack of amped-up drama – I think – is intentional. Even within the cage of a superstar movie, Ranjith is trying to be subtle.
Another filmmaker would have given Yogi (a very ill-at-ease Dhansika) a rousing introduction, given the weight this character carries in the story. But she comes in like an afterthought, and it isn’t until interval point that we realise who she is, what she’s doing here. But again, this sounds better than how it plays out. We are not emotionally invested in anything, anyone.
Except, maybe, Kumudhavalli, Kabali’s wife. Radhika Apte is a part of what is ostensibly the second (and far more interesting) narrative thread of Kabali, about the man’s personal life. She doesn’t have much of a role, but she does get one emotional scene that makes you see why Ranjith wanted an actor of her calibre.
Ranjith’s filmmaking is different too, and not in a good way. Kabali does have some of his trademarks – the way he introduces characters and their circumstances in a prologue-y rush at the beginning or the way he uses little capsules of flashback to fill us in on what really happened. But the life he infused in his earlier films is missing.
And what about the big star at the centre? He does well, though his age is beginning to show. There’s a scene where someone asks Kabali why he is a gangster when he is so educated. He removes his glasses. The camera zooms in. He gives this look, at once hard and wistful. He makes you wish for more such shots that studied his face. What a great still camera subject this face makes. Still.
Another favourite shot of mine came when Kabali is in a hotel in Chennai, and the camera captures him not as a gangster but a father.
The earlier edge is gone. There is so much warmth here, you feel this is what he must look like with his grandchildren.
And though we have the slow-mo walk and the staccato laugh, it is nice to see this star act his age – he kicks ass and yet, he’s vulnerable. He could use someone looking after him.
Kabali doesn’t pander to his fans. No comedy. No punch lines.
And yet, it must be said that Rajinikanth does more for the movie than the movie does for him.
BHARADWAJ RANGAN
KABALI
Genre:Drama
Director:Pa. Ranjith
Cast:Rajinikanth, Radhika Apte, Dhansika
Storyline:The story of a Malysian-Tamilian gangster.
Bottomline:An unsatisfying clash between the impulses of star and director.
