Kabali - The phenomenon

I know I am late in my review of the phenomenon called Kabali (a Rajini - another phenomenon - starer). To justify this lateness, I would blame it on the rating of the movie which did not allow my children to view it in the theaters in London and I had to travel to India during their summer break, and finally I got to see this movie today.

Before I go to the actual movie review (or my opinion of the movie), the reason I called Kabali and Rajini, both as a phenomenon is not only because of my hubby B who is a die hard fanatic of Rajini, but also the fact that the age range of people who watched Kabali today from my family was between 5 years and 60 years, and the movie managed to keep even the 5 year old awake and glued to the screen till the climax, despite the fact that he was fully fed and almost ready to have his afternoon nap.

From the day the movie was named, my fanatic hubby has been talking about it non-stop. So the hype for the movie was quite high for me. He has been sharing this fanaticism with our children. For the last 6 months, the only songs that our family has listened to is from Kabali. From the month of June, B has been waiting for the release date feverishly and planning his official trips and meetings in such a way that he doesn't miss the first day first show. If it was even possible, he would have traveled from London to Chennai for the FDFS. Instead he managed to watch the movie on the biggest screen in the Europe "Le Grand Rex, Paris" and he went gaga about having had the "Dharshan" of his "God" on such a huge screen in FDFS (Preview show) - July 21. He saw the movie a second time with his Mom on July 23 in London.

We traveled to India and he watched the movie a third time with his nephew on Aug 5, in his hometown, Virudhunagar. Today was his fourth viewing of the movie in Chennai and I found him tearing up in various scenes in the movie. I am sure B will watch this movie many more times in theater and will end up owning an original DVD of the same when ever it comes out. This reaction is not exclusive to just my household... Worldwide, the reaction during the release of the movie, is nothing less than a phenomenon.

I loved the movie and Rajini's role. After Enthiran, this is another movie in which I enjoyed watching Rajini's acting. B and I always have this discussion where I say, Rajini stopped acting the moment he started becoming superstar and does only formula movies, while he holds to the fact that Rajini's presence is more than enough.

This movie, the character suited his age. And he flawlessly executed the role of a husband, father and Don to the best extent possible. It was a pleasure to watch him effortlessly fit into the character and dominate the entire movie. Equally good was Radhika Apte's acting. Their reunion was just perfect... Again, the fight sequence where Rajini himself fought were more acceptable and realistic in contrast to the larger than life fighting sequences of his earlier movies.

Enjoyed watching the movie and it was a pleasure to see the actor Rajini in his fullest capacity on screen performing a role fitting his age and executing it to perfection!!!

MAGIZHCHI!!!!

Latest update: Tonight when B went shopping with our children to buy their dresses, he ended up buying a Kabali T-Shirt for himself and 2 Kabali draw string bags - one for him and one for his nephew.