‘Kabali’ is a film that you should not miss for Rajini’s fantabulous acting, clap worthy dialogues, and sparkling emotional moments.  A more powerful story and a tighter screenplay would have made it much better.

Kabali was always going to be 100% about Rajinikanth’s super stardom. It was going to be about his action, his style, his persona. The character Kabali would be designed to suit that purpose. Unfortunately, it doesn’t blend well at all with this attempt at “gang war with a heart”.

This is not a movie for the die-hard Rajni fans expecting their hero to whoop the baddies, bring the roof down with his comic sense or play the universe savior – but this is one for those who would love to see Rajni in a matured role that prognosticates his abilities on screen – what the star is capable of at this stage of his career in a well-presented story. Is our movie-watching public mature enough to understand and accept that this is one of the better performances of a star who does more than enough even without doing what he usually does? – that is something that the money coffers will answer.

Kabali does not live up to its hype. In spite of Rajni’s smashing persona, the film fails to make an impact.

Ranjith attempts to give us a return of the prodigal son, who strayed into stardom only to come back, ‘almost’ repentant.

The problem with Kabali, to put it simply, is that it is a weak film weighed down by a multiplicity of characters and a web of interconnected stories about a dead wife (Radhika Apte), an unknown daughter (Dhanshika), a fidgety young lieutenant always at Kabali’s service (Dinesh Ravi), and a whiny girl whose sob stories never end (Riythvika).

This is definitely not Rajini movie. Watch with open mind. Get ready to face some slow screenplay. However the director has added all commercial elements in second half of the movie. The first 15 minutes and last 20 minutes be2fore Interval are the highlights of the movie. Similarly the climax is also entertaining. As always, Good triumphs over evil. Cinematography and Music are the two pillars of the movie and they escalate the movie to new level.

…the biggest letdown is the characterless — literally and figuratively — script, which is not only bereft of any intelligence or imagination but also telegraphs and spells out in all-caps what little plot twists it has. The resultant soggy mess of a film is thus neither director’s nor star’s. Ranjith has, somehow, managed to deliver a Rajini movie with no ‘Rajini’ in it.

Riding on so much hype and Rajinikanth’s star power, Kabali turns out to be a huge disappointment. Though Rajinikanth keeps on saying Magizchi (Cheers! in English) in the film, there is very less to cheer about anywhere in here, even for his die-hard fans. Only watch the film if you want to know why there is so much craze over Rajinikanth.

Kabali has nothing new to say or offer, besides Rajinikanth playing his age,

Watching a Rajnikanth film in Mumbai’s Aurora Theatre can only be compared to watching a Salman Khan film in Bandra’s Gaiety-Galaxy, but multiplied 100 times over

Kabali is definitely not your regular Rajini film and is most likely to disappoint his fans. The film is also not as gripping as Ranjith’s critically acclaimed Madras. 

If not for the hype and stunning trailer, which promised an all-out Rajini masala entertainer, the film would have been far more enjoyable.

You get the feeling that Ranjith could have done a whole lot more with it, especially with Rajini turning in the kind of performance that he has. Overall, it’s an enjoyable watch, provided you’ve got a certain degree of patience and some undying love for Thalaivar.

After years of mega budget, formulaic Rajini films, many will struggle to digest what Ranjith has done. Breaking away from the tailor-made yet typical screen plays often used, Ranjith ventures pretty far off the beaten track.
A bold move indeed, but after two flops and Shankar’s 2.0 in the making, how will this risk play out?
For Thalaivar fans, it’ll be hard to tell. Though Rajinikanth shines, he has a long career in which Kabali doesn’t quite fit.

The story, perhaps, needed a tighter screenplay, but watch it for ‘Thalaivar athiradi’. Nothing more, nothing less!

This was the time when Rajinikanth should have reinvented himself for his directors have long stopped bothering about plot and characterisation. For when Rajinikant is on and at it, who cares?

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.

So the verdict. Does Rajinikant rock it in Kabali? Yes! Though the motions of his iconization have now altered somewhat.

On the whole Kabali is one-time watch, as Rajinikanth has tried his best to rise above the insipid script.

To be happy seeing the Superstar in this new avatar where he absolutely kicks ass transporting us to his ‘raw-actor’ days or feel frustrated thinking about the innumerable ways the movie could have been scripted and staged better… the choice is yours!

Overall, Kabali is neither a Rajinikanth film nor a Ranjith film — it’s a mixed bag!

Rajinikanth in a different dimension, but Kabali might not work for everyone. Theatres which are known to reverberate for Rajinikanth, seem a lot more silent for Kabali.