The Game Changer

Director Pa. Ranjith has audiences swooning over Rajinikanth all over again. This time, the superstar returns as an older, wiser and more politically-conscious hero

- Prachi Sibal

Na Vandhutten sollu, thirumbi Vandhutten (I have come, tell them I have come back),” thunders Rajinikanth in the 2016 hit Kabali. He is Kabaleeswaran, a Robin Hood-esque hero who fights for the cause of Tamil labourers in Malaysia, speaking with panache of sociopolitical issues against the backdrop of gang rivalries. Political movements are referred to, including the Dalit uprising.

The film’s success came at an opportune time for the actor known as Thalaivar, Tamil for ‘leader’. The last time audiences went wild over his swaggering antics was in 2010 with director S. Shankar’s sci-fidrama Enthiran. The box office failure of his daughter Soundarya Rajinikanth’s animated film Kochadaiiyan (2016) and Lingaa (2016), by confidant K.S. Ravikumar, saw the superstar apologise to his fans and compensate Lingaa distributors for the losses incurred. Speculation was rife that the superstar would hang up his boots after a career that lasted over three decades. The Tamil audience was changing and Thalaivar had to sit up and take notice too.

In dire need of a comeback, the superstar needed a makeover. He invited scripts from filmmakers, young and old. Enter Pa. Ranjith, director of the critically-acclaimed political action drama Madras (2014). Once assistant to director Venkat Prabhu, he debuted with romantic comedy Attakathi. In the landscape of Kollywood, the 36-year-old filmmaker stood out for being unapologetically political. He wore his Dalit identity on his sleeve, proclaimed his atheist status and spoke of issues that plagued Tamil Nadu and Indian society at large.

That Kaala, his second film with Rajinikanth, was to be an unabashedly political film was established early on. The 67-year-old superstar plays Karikaalan, a Tamil don in Dharavi who fights for the rights of the poor, sports a black