Yesterday, we got to watch the latest Rajni movie, Kabali. All I knew was that :
it had Rajni as a Don... Nothing new there
Rajni plays an old man .. okay but there were scenes in the trailer where he is in flashback young Rajni mode
No typical Rajni movie soundtrack : okay.. that was a red flag but still..
Went to watch it and came out shaking my head.
If you don't know what going to a Rajni movie is like..
Imagine you go to a James Bond movie. There is some hint of action for 30 seconds and then Bond comes and shoots once.. the camera iris closes.. blood drop flows down the screen and the Bond movie theme music soars!
Then the scene moves to a monastery.. Daniel Craig is now a non-violent priest who is training students on tai-chi.. and they don't even show his face.. they show the side and back of his face.. you are to infer that this Bond is not the usual Bond you are used to seeing. Maybe that is a hint for us to get ready for more surprises..
The movie keeps going. You are waiting for some hot bombshell pin up girl to join the action... instead you see that Judy Dench is now mother superior and they are taking about starting an orphanage. You scratch your stubble and go "hmm.. ticket says Bond movie... are we sure this is the right theater. these two have acted in other roles in other movies and they are good.. and that tonsured dude does look like Daniel Craig!" You give it the benefit of doubt and sit down quietly.
Another thirty minutes passes with Bond(if you can still call him that) going into details of Tai-Chi moves in slow motion with a few kids and there is a loud noise.. You are expecting some typical Bond movie style train to run through the monastery and are expecting Craig to remove that head piece to reveal his executive style hair underneath that fake tonsure, to pull off his robe to reveal a charcoal black tux and to jump on the train to put the brakes on.. but the scene moves to Dench who has just dropped her box full of prayer beads. At this point you have had it..
Then Bond smiles at Dench from the corner of his lips and says some quirky one liner and you go "okay.. I think I saw a slight hint of Bond there.. should I jump up and clap because this is where it all begins? or am I going to be the only idiot clapping?". You look to the left and you look to the right and you see other folks in the dimly lit theater doing the same thing.. everyone is looking at everyone with that "what are we do make of this?" look. You realize that most of the movie is done and your typical hero is nowhere to be seen. Your typical experience for this franchise is not coming..
and it dawns on you.. you have been had! After Rumble in the Bronx, this is the worst experience for tralier excitement : Movie reality that you have witnessed. Given you have never forgiven Jackie for tricking you by putting the best stunts in the two minute trailer and filling the rest of the runtime with crap, your blood pressure goes up.
Right then, there is a scene. Bond does his usual wink and blink and there is a brief scuffle, but it is too little too late. You come out a litlte confused. If it weren't for the Bond theme music and the single shot fired and the iris closing at the begining of the movie, there was nothing Bond about it! It could have as well been a Tai-Chi documentary.
As a die hard Bond fan, you convince yourself that you saw glimpses of Bond in a few fleeting moments, but you get very very angry. You wanted the entire movie to be that!
That people was my way of explaining to the world what Kabali was as a Rajni movie. If we didnt have the opening credits showing SUPERSTAR RAJNI in StarWars font capital letters, this had nothing of the typical Superstar in it. It was a violent documentary of the Malaysian Tamil community and its struggle to gain equal rights with respect to opportunities, pay and representation in the government.
I am not trying to diss that movement or the fact that it gets much needed attention in this movie. Would I go to watch a movie on that topic if it actually had some activists or soap opera actors playing lead roles? Maybe not. Then again they could have made a documentary and have Rajni do the voice like Morgan Freeman does to Penguin movies.. or they could have had him show his support to this movement or set the record straight with a few clips. There was no need to trick me into thinking it was a "Rajni movie" when it clearly was not.
Yes, Ranji was in it.. but that was it!
Now I have to go watch some old Rajni movies to try and reset my head and expectations on what a superstar movie watching experience is really like!
ps. Used to write funny posts on Rajni movies or even Kamal movies (by dragging Rajni into it). Tried to put some frivolity into this post, but deep down I am pissed.