Rajinikanth compared ‘Coolie’ with Mani Ratnam’s ‘Thalapathi’, reveals Lokesh Kanagaraj

Acclaimed Tamil filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj, who is awaiting the release of Coolie, his much-awaited action film with Rajinikanth, revealed on Monday (July 14) that the superstar compared Coolie with his iconic 1991 Mani Ratnam-directed film Thalapathi.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Lokesh, while speaking about how he didn’t want to change the idea of a Rajinikanth film, said that he wished to emulate the delicate balance of star-filmmaking and flair that Mani Ratnam’s film had. “Out of all the films he has done, I love Thalapathi the most, and I have tried to maintain that balance with this film. That is what I have tried to achieve in writing Coolie.”

Fascinatingly, after watching the film while dubbing, Rajinikanth too seems to have understood what Lokesh was going for in Coolie. “He hugged me and said, ‘It looks like Thalapathi to me.’ And that made my day. That was the night I slept very peacefully after so many months. Because that’s what I was trying to achieve. This is what I was telling my friends, ‘If at all I am doing a film with Rajini sir, it has to be something at least near Thalapathi.’ I can’t say I have done a film that’s on par with Mani Ratnam sir’s quality; that is impossible. But I wanted that little satisfaction in my film being compared with that film. And listening to the same words from Rajini sir is something I consider an achievement,” added Lokesh.

Earlier, the director had revealed that he had a different story pitched to and approved by Rajinikanth, but that he requested the superstar to consider a different script. Now, while recounting the same, Lokesh has revealed that the original film was a fantasy film. “And Rajini sir was immediately on board with that idea. The problem was that even assembling it took so much time. Moreover, to prepare, make everyone available and then go on the floors, it would have taken one and a half years.”

But Lokesh didn’t want to waste Rajinikanth’s time. “I had worked for two months on that film, and then one day I called him and asked to meet. I told him, ‘Let’s not do this film; let’s do another story.’ That’s when I told this idea (Coolie),” said Lokesh, explaining how he had originally given the idea of Coolie to a director friend of his. “This is an idea I had thought of 5-6 years ago. In fact, I had given this story to one of my friends to direct, and he was trying to make it, but he couldn’t do it. Later, when I decided not to do that original film with Rajini sir, I asked my friend, ‘Hey, give the story back. I will give you something else. Let me work on this,’ and he agreed to it, and that’s how this film started.”

Slated to release in theatres on August 14, Rajinikanth’s Coolie features an ensemble star cast that includes Upendra, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Pooja Hegde, Soubin Shahir, Sathyaraj, and Shruti Haasan. While Pooja Hegde is set to appear in a special role, teased in the recently released track ‘Monica’, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan will feature in a special cameo in the film.

Anirudh Ravichander is composing music for the movie, while Girish Gangadharan is the cinematographer. Anbariv is in charge of the stunt choreography. Produced by Kalanithi Maran of Sun Pictures, Coolie will face off with the spy action drama War 2, starring Jr NTR and Hrithik Roshan, at the box office.

Meanwhile, Rajinikanth is currently shooting for Jailer 2. Directed by Nelson, the movie is a sequel to the hit 2023 movie. Anirudh is the music composer for Jailer 2, which will also feature Kannada star Shivarajkumar in an important role.