Rajinikanth’s Coolie: When Sheer Movie Magic Trumps Noise (and Logic)

Everyone wants to ride a trend. Remember the Coldplay concert? A Rajinikanth movie is a bigger content moment than even C-suite canoodling caught on camera, writes Gokul Krishnamoorthy.

Rajinikanth’s Coolie, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by Sun Pictures, has proven yet again that sheer star power and cinematic charisma can overpower online negativity, fake reviews, and divisive commentary. Despite heavy social media noise criticizing the film’s writing, music, and plot twists, Coolie stormed the box office, reportedly crossing Rs.400 crore worldwide within days of release. The film’s success underlines Rajinikanth’s unparalleled appeal, the effectiveness of smart marketing, and the audience’s unshakable faith in cinematic escapism. For fans, Coolie delivered the quintessential Rajinikanth experience—larger-than-life moments, goosebump-worthy sequences, and pure entertainment. The case of Coolie also reignites debate around the credibility of film reviews, online influence, and the rising menace of manufactured opinions in the digital age.

So when it’s as big as a Superstar-starrer, peeps understandably want in on the action. Ahead of anyone else. Diehard fans want to be in cinemas on day zero. Online herds don’t want to be left behind either.

So it was not surprising to find several Youtubers running shows like ‘Coolie Roast’ a day after the release of Rajinikanth’s Coolie produced by Sun Pictures and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. Posts on social media, including LinkedIn, featured self-appointed experts waxing eloquent on the end of the Rajinikanth era, ‘lacklustre writing’, ‘formulaic music’, mind-numbing twists and more.

Cut to day four – according to multiple posts, the film has breached Rajinikanth’s box office collection records worldwide. Some peg the number at over Rs.400 cr. The social media rants seemingly did not dent the audience’s faith in their star’s vehicle to take them to the promised land of delightful disbelief. The track record and marketing acumen of the producers, besides the blockbuster reputation of the director, must have made the case for an outing to the cinema stronger – especially over an Independence Day + Janmashtami weekend.

So did the negativity not have an impact? It certainly did, even for this stellar team fronted by none other than Rajinikanth. The negative commentary must have made a difference to fence-sitters figuring which screen to watch it on. Choosing to wait and watch it on OTT is a real option today, especially for a film you can’t take your kids to (A-certified). My contention is that Coolie succeeded despite the negativity and could have seen even bigger numbers but for the online angst, both manufactured and otherwise. Remember Laal Singh Chaddha? Only in the case of Coolie, there seemed to be no cohesive agenda operating at the time of release against the lead star.

Opinions Shape Opinions

There are film reviewers you grow up trusting but they are increasingly rare. One is also often left wondering why a reviewer enters a critic’s territory. The line blurs as reviewers forget that the reader is looking for whether to watch, not whether a movie is likely to win awards. There is the additional issue of opinionation that puts you off. If it’s an opinion rooted in experience, resonant with and relevant to the lay viewer, it’s valuable. To pretend to have an opinion when the reviewer actually doesn’t have one, is to cheat the reader/viewer. What’s worse is to borrow that opinion from what one sees online, only to add to the noise. And, is it just me or are others too finding some reviewers revelling in the hypothesis that the more ‘roasty’ the review, the greater its shareability and potential virality? 

So what does one do as a viewer? One leans on user ratings and reviews to hopefully get genuine and unbiased feedback, or as an additional validation of ‘expert’ reviews. Unfortunately, even that space is not sacred anymore. It’s been pointed out several times (and Coolie is not an exception) that fake ‘user’ reviews are killing trust in online reviews. While it is common, it’s certainly worth discussing.

Manufactured opinion has become SOP. There are fake ‘user’ reviews for almost every movie. Some are planted by those who want the movie to succeed, fans included. The copy-pasted jobs (‘Tool kit’ as it’s called?) is a dead giveaway. And then there are folks who simply want the movie to fail. Coolie was too big to fail. But attempts seem to have been made. Did they hate Rajinikanth? Can’t say. It’s possible that they love another actor more and that love manifests as hate for other / bigger stars. Was it directed at the director? The producers? Anything is possible. The only undisputable fact is that trust in comments and reviews is lost, as with a lot of information found via WhatsApp messenger groups.

Influencing the Viewer

As a viewer and a (non-exclusive) fan of the star, I checked online reviews when I decided to treat myself to the movie after an exhausting work trip. I realised that reviewers were being overly critical of Coolie. You don’t really look for logic end-to-end when the mission is entertainment (of the Rajinikanth kind) as long as it’s made well enough – to portray the hero in all his splendour and evoke goosebumps every now and then. If it’s also a great film, that’s a definite bonus; not an imperative. For the normal person who enjoys a Rajinikanth film, Coolie was well above par, in my view. For his fans, it was paisa vasool.

When it comes to online ‘user’ reviews, it was a mixed bag. And the fake copy-pasted reviews in favour of the film actually gave the impression that someone was trying too hard to create a fake positive narrative. In reality, they were only following the deplorable practice of posting the same reviews under multiple user names. It’s not right. But if we do have to create a narrative using fake reviews, can we at least do it believably?

As a user, it is becoming increasingly difficult to judge what to watch. ‘Decision Paralysis’ is how the struggle to decide what to watch on OTT is described. When you know that there is a movie releasing in cinemas, with your favourite star, and it has been marketed well, things get easier but you still want a layer of assurance – that it will be three hours well spent, besides the Rs.300-popcorn and the works. Even collective user ratings are getting gamed when there is an agenda at work. 

Overpowering the Noise

Despite everything, including arguable flaws in the film, it’s a testament to the magnetism of commercial cinema and the audience’s love for Rajinikanth that Coolie has collected the moolah it supposedly has. So what is the takeaway from this rather long rant? For starters, go watch Coolie if you enjoy a typical Rajinikanth flick. It’s unmissable. And celebrate his on-screen charisma of 50 years while you’re at it.

Besides that, there is a need to look at factors that will influence how screened entertainment is protected from agendas, some of which will remain invisible. Independent voices and publishers must take the extra effort now, more than ever, to review a creative product from the lens of who it was created for. Coolie wasn’t ever meant to be a Cannes contender. Do point out flaws by all means, and do the half-time review if you must. But the reviewer fraternity will do well to remember that trust in the review and reviewer is now paramount – and that it can be destroyed by one statement.

It’s ironic that another movie released around the same time, Udaipur Files, is making news for its makers lambasting audiences of a faith for not flocking to watch it. Perhaps they need to take a leaf out of the marketing playbooks of some other successful films made for the same cohorts.

In the case of Coolie, the teams have ensured that despite some negative word-of-mouth online – motivated or otherwise – it swept through the opening weekend on a high. That’s all that matters today. Coolie had the star power, marketing muscle and a focused product offering for a defined audience to do that.

For anyone or anything lesser, a concerted online campaign, or even a series of random comments that feed off each other for that matter, could wipe the release out of cinemas in no time. For their sake, we need reviews and rating platforms that are informed, sensitive and unimpeachable.

Am I asking for too much?

I’ve just watched Coolie. In this magical universe, pigs do fly.