Take this scene in Madras, where Ranjith sets up the big reveal. Ranjith uses the literal under the table footise between the lovers as a visual metaphor for the under the table nexus between the two seemingly warring politicians. Notice how the scene has a great rhythm with a clear beginning (pretension between the parties), middle (warmth) and an end (deal). Madras worked mainly because like any good movie, it "did not tell, but showed". That was sufficient to appreciate Madras, even when a viewer has missed the political undercurrent (or the two shots of Buddha in that sequence).
Kabali on the other hand, violates this basic rule of cinema and as a result fails to take off as a movie. Almost everybody in Kabali has peddled drugs, and that's revealed with every character literally telling that to your face in Kuala Lampur slang. The film manages to convincingly answer tell you interesting things about Kabali and his wife, but when it comes to actually showing them it flounders. The temple scene is a case in point. The lengthy interview scene with students is long, and has an unfortunate and then ... and then rhythm to it. When Rajini spends close to a minute telling a fable (of nihilist Tamil nandus) Kabali goes from generic to downright stale. Even worse, the direction at times is poor that you don't even get the intent. That happens when 43 gang attacks Kabali's safe house before he ventures in search of his wife. There is no beginning, or no clear ending. There is nothing to suggest within the scene as to what happened to Kabali. The one second hint of a romantic angle between Dinesh and Dhansika is down right puzzling. It is one thing to have a synopsis of a love story, but to literally shoot it as a synopsis is vera level. What happened, Ranjith?
Ranjith probably wanted to do away with the usual super star build up scenes, or wanted a faster pace for the movie. Unfortunately, this results in poor staging and execution, with jarring jumps between pages of a script, like a Hari movie on steroids. Santhosh Narayanan efforts on the background score provide promising interlude to scenes that don't have much going for them visually. A scene where Kabali rams a jeep into an unsuspecting villain is supposed to mark the ageing man's surprising cold blooded pursuit of revenge. It plays without a rhythm and the moment does not register. To top it off, when the villain suggests that somebody might have pimped his wife off, Rajini responds with Maghizhchi! The decision to have Radhika Apte's portions play as a series of interluding montages leaves Ranjith with too many fragments to piece together in the first half. The law of averages catches up with Ritwika after Madras and Oru Naal Koothu. She pitches her stoner character way too high which adds to the chaos.
There are only a handful of well executed scenes. The prelude to Ulagam Oruvanukka (referencing lyrics which go like "Paravai Parakka Marakkathe"), and the actual song (with Gana Bala look alikes) were good. Ranjith has the temerity to point out that being a benefactor to the juvenile youth does not excuse Kabali from being showcased as a bad example. He even lets Radhika Apte lord over Rajini (a serial tamer of Tamil cinema shrews) as the over-bearing wife. The best scene in the movie is where Dinesh gets attacked. It is shot from the bottom up, contrasting several top down shots in Madras. The violence and gore is disturbing, and showcases juvenile crime better than scenes in the first half at Free Life school, and stands out like a good thumb on an otherwise sore hand. The editing in the scene is a significant departure from how the rest of Kabali is edited in general. Notice the amount of time the editor waits for Tony Lee to swing his sword waiting for the tension to build. Contrast this with the scene where Kabali cuts the Maghizhchi cake in a flash, where the scene has moved on before you can fully register what has happened. That scene is representative of the jarring quality of editing in the first half. Can some one please explain the one second throw away scene at the swimming pool with Rajini and Dhansika? Second half manages to setup a mood of unease - the feeling that would exist between meaty edge of the seat scenes in a thriller, as a cloud of vulnerability hangs over Kabali. But the problem is that the meaty edge of the seat scenes are missing in Kabali.
One of the two scenes that excited me was catching a glimpe of RJ Tilak and Super Singer Soundarya in unexpected cameos. And speaking of cameos it is more or less an extended cameo for most the cast. Dhansika manages to look surprised all the time. Dinesh is wasted as a sidekick. So is his on-screen brother from Atta Kaththi. And so are Kalaiarasan, Mime Gopi, Rama (Madras Amma), Madras Johny, Nasser, Gana Bala and Aishwarya Rajesh (I don't remember seeing the last two, but I will just put them here, to be on the safer side). I don't know if it is supposed to be a Venkat Prabhu homage that has gone too far. The only moment that is crafted with some effort (points from at least trying) pays off with Apte showing why she is the most sought actor in the independent movie scene. Rajinikanth, on the other hand is back with a bang. Playing his age he is able to showcase an extra ordinary presence that we have not seen in his recent films. He is mostly good (slips when has to do some rapid tongue twisters in the flash back), and that's one of the few things that Kabali gets right. After seeing the poorly made Lingaa that almost made a joke out of Rajinikanth, I should say some credit should go to the director for directing Rajinikanth in a good performance.
The other scene that excited me was the (intentional?) reference to Aaranya Kaandam, where Nasser answers the question ("What is is dharmam?"). That a Rajini movie references a great movie that made innumerable references to Rajini movies simply blew my mind for a second. On the flip side, Kabali also reminded me of Baasha (borrowing from Godfather), when Tony Lee's enterprise is toppled in a single montage (Sarakku might mean a different thing in KL slang, but I think a yawn is still a yawn). The root cause for most conflicts is petty mindedness and this trope has mostly left me unimpressed (Irudhi Sutru and Kaaviya Thalaivan come to mind). The idea of Rajini playing a character as a homage to Ambedkar and his politics sounds interesting on paper. But Ranjith focuses too much on the personality cult of Ambedkar, and in the process reinvents one of the most important leaders of the independence era as a Dalit fashion icon. And instead of being a movie that puts an end to questions about Rajinikanth's super-stardom, Kabali draws unnecessary attention to the questionable practices that sustain super-stardom.
Kabali on the other hand, violates this basic rule of cinema and as a result fails to take off as a movie. Almost everybody in Kabali has peddled drugs, and that's revealed with every character literally telling that to your face in Kuala Lampur slang. The film manages to convincingly answer tell you interesting things about Kabali and his wife, but when it comes to actually showing them it flounders. The temple scene is a case in point. The lengthy interview scene with students is long, and has an unfortunate and then ... and then rhythm to it. When Rajini spends close to a minute telling a fable (of nihilist Tamil nandus) Kabali goes from generic to downright stale. Even worse, the direction at times is poor that you don't even get the intent. That happens when 43 gang attacks Kabali's safe house before he ventures in search of his wife. There is no beginning, or no clear ending. There is nothing to suggest within the scene as to what happened to Kabali. The one second hint of a romantic angle between Dinesh and Dhansika is down right puzzling. It is one thing to have a synopsis of a love story, but to literally shoot it as a synopsis is vera level. What happened, Ranjith?
Ranjith probably wanted to do away with the usual super star build up scenes, or wanted a faster pace for the movie. Unfortunately, this results in poor staging and execution, with jarring jumps between pages of a script, like a Hari movie on steroids. Santhosh Narayanan efforts on the background score provide promising interlude to scenes that don't have much going for them visually. A scene where Kabali rams a jeep into an unsuspecting villain is supposed to mark the ageing man's surprising cold blooded pursuit of revenge. It plays without a rhythm and the moment does not register. To top it off, when the villain suggests that somebody might have pimped his wife off, Rajini responds with Maghizhchi! The decision to have Radhika Apte's portions play as a series of interluding montages leaves Ranjith with too many fragments to piece together in the first half. The law of averages catches up with Ritwika after Madras and Oru Naal Koothu. She pitches her stoner character way too high which adds to the chaos.
There are only a handful of well executed scenes. The prelude to Ulagam Oruvanukka (referencing lyrics which go like "Paravai Parakka Marakkathe"), and the actual song (with Gana Bala look alikes) were good. Ranjith has the temerity to point out that being a benefactor to the juvenile youth does not excuse Kabali from being showcased as a bad example. He even lets Radhika Apte lord over Rajini (a serial tamer of Tamil cinema shrews) as the over-bearing wife. The best scene in the movie is where Dinesh gets attacked. It is shot from the bottom up, contrasting several top down shots in Madras. The violence and gore is disturbing, and showcases juvenile crime better than scenes in the first half at Free Life school, and stands out like a good thumb on an otherwise sore hand. The editing in the scene is a significant departure from how the rest of Kabali is edited in general. Notice the amount of time the editor waits for Tony Lee to swing his sword waiting for the tension to build. Contrast this with the scene where Kabali cuts the Maghizhchi cake in a flash, where the scene has moved on before you can fully register what has happened. That scene is representative of the jarring quality of editing in the first half. Can some one please explain the one second throw away scene at the swimming pool with Rajini and Dhansika? Second half manages to setup a mood of unease - the feeling that would exist between meaty edge of the seat scenes in a thriller, as a cloud of vulnerability hangs over Kabali. But the problem is that the meaty edge of the seat scenes are missing in Kabali.
One of the two scenes that excited me was catching a glimpe of RJ Tilak and Super Singer Soundarya in unexpected cameos. And speaking of cameos it is more or less an extended cameo for most the cast. Dhansika manages to look surprised all the time. Dinesh is wasted as a sidekick. So is his on-screen brother from Atta Kaththi. And so are Kalaiarasan, Mime Gopi, Rama (Madras Amma), Madras Johny, Nasser, Gana Bala and Aishwarya Rajesh (I don't remember seeing the last two, but I will just put them here, to be on the safer side). I don't know if it is supposed to be a Venkat Prabhu homage that has gone too far. The only moment that is crafted with some effort (points from at least trying) pays off with Apte showing why she is the most sought actor in the independent movie scene. Rajinikanth, on the other hand is back with a bang. Playing his age he is able to showcase an extra ordinary presence that we have not seen in his recent films. He is mostly good (slips when has to do some rapid tongue twisters in the flash back), and that's one of the few things that Kabali gets right. After seeing the poorly made Lingaa that almost made a joke out of Rajinikanth, I should say some credit should go to the director for directing Rajinikanth in a good performance.
The other scene that excited me was the (intentional?) reference to Aaranya Kaandam, where Nasser answers the question ("What is is dharmam?"). That a Rajini movie references a great movie that made innumerable references to Rajini movies simply blew my mind for a second. On the flip side, Kabali also reminded me of Baasha (borrowing from Godfather), when Tony Lee's enterprise is toppled in a single montage (Sarakku might mean a different thing in KL slang, but I think a yawn is still a yawn). The root cause for most conflicts is petty mindedness and this trope has mostly left me unimpressed (Irudhi Sutru and Kaaviya Thalaivan come to mind). The idea of Rajini playing a character as a homage to Ambedkar and his politics sounds interesting on paper. But Ranjith focuses too much on the personality cult of Ambedkar, and in the process reinvents one of the most important leaders of the independence era as a Dalit fashion icon. And instead of being a movie that puts an end to questions about Rajinikanth's super-stardom, Kabali draws unnecessary attention to the questionable practices that sustain super-stardom.
