This Rajinikanth-Starrer Misses Paying Its Dues

The first time we see Deva (Rajinikanth) flex his arms in a fight, it isn't exactly brutal. It has the right amount of levity that gives Deva a rather clear character sketch.

- AVINASH RAMACHANDRAN

The first time we see Deva (Rajinikanth) flex his arms in a fight, it isn't exactly brutal. It has the right amount of levity that gives Deva a rather clear character sketch. Here's a violent man, has a secret past, lives by a set of principles, and...yet, doesn't forget to have fun. He is a rather interesting character who name-drops Anushka with the same charm as he drop-kicks a barrel of alcohol to establish his anti-drinking stance. Unfortunately, after a point, both Deva and Coolie forget to have fun and are burdened by a cross that they unnecessarily carry throughout the 169-minute runtime.

And that cross is the tepid storyline that involves Simon (Nagarjuna), a luxury watch smuggler with other nefarious means of making money, his henchman Dayalan (Soubin Shahir), scientist Rajasekhar (Sathyaraj), his daughter Preethi (Shruti Haasan), and finally...mansion owner Deva, who is drawn into this world of death, destruction, and a truckload of ashes. Oh, wait, Preethi has two sisters, who do nothing but cry. There are a bunch of henchmen around Simon and Dayalan, who do nothing but die. And there's Kaleesha, who is waiting in a room because...after a point, we don't really care. This is the biggest drawback of Coolie. There are so many characters, and yet, the writing doesn't allow any of them to flourish except for Soubin's Dayalan and Shruti's Preethi. Surprisingly, even Deva gets a raw deal as his start-stop arc is as random as Rajasekhar's invention.