With exactly one month left for the worldwide release of director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s “Superstar” Rajinikanth-led action thriller Coolie, anticipation has already gone through the roof. One of the most awaited Indian movies of the year, Coolie not only marks the first collaboration between Rajinikanth and Lokesh but also features several massive stars, including Nagarjuna, Upendra, Soubin Shahir, Sathyaraj and Shruti Haasan, with a cameo appearance by Bollywood icon Aamir Khan.
While Lokesh is busy giving the film its final touches, a remark made by ‘Thalaivar’ after watching a cut of Coolie has left him elated, confirming that what he set out to achieve has been accomplished. Mentioning that director Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi (1991) is his most favourite Rajinikanth film, Lokesh recently shared that what he tried to do in Coolie was emulate the same artistic and commercial balance that the 1991 gangster drama achieved.
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“After watching the film in the dubbing studio, he (Rajinikanth) hugged me and said, ‘It looked like Thalapathi for me!’ That made my day, and that was the night I slept very peacefully after many months. That is what I was telling my friends, too. If at all, I am doing a film with Rajini sir, it has to be somewhere close to Thalapathi. I cannot write a film on par with Mani sir’s quality, as his film and writing is unmatched… But I get a little satisfaction when we compare that film with this one. Listening to the same words from Rajini sir was an achievement,” she shared during a chat with The Hollywood Reporter India.
Opening up about his experience working with the ultimate superstar, Lokesh said: “I loved writing for Rajini sir. I initially wrote a fantasy film for him, and he immediately said okay to it, but assembling it took so much time… it would’ve taken at least a year and a half to go ahead. You can write anything for the actor because he is larger than life. Even though I have tried a lot of new techniques and styles in the film, it will still be a Rajini sir film. I also don’t want to change that.”
