GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

najib-02749 Pros: 1) First 5 minutes 2) Radhika Apte's acting 3) Sai Dhansika's role and acting 4) Attakathi Dinesh's actingCons: 1) EVERYTHING ELSEWhat was Ranjith thinking? What was Rajini thinking? How could the producer cheat us with the misleading trailer? This is not the Rajini that we want to see!Kabali's teaser is probably one of the best teasers to come out from Indian Cinema. It highlighted Rajini's persona, the slow-mo scenes, his BADASS Gangster look and the catchy "Neruppu Da" Theme. And the teaser is the main reason why the Expectations were so high on this movie!After seeing the teaser, everyone expected Kabali to be the next Baasha for Rajinikanth. But sadly, it was all a LIE! I was so angry with Kalaipuli S Thanu (the film's producer) after watching this movie. He purposely misled us by compiling all the best scenes from the movie into a short clip and released it as a teaser. The actual movie looks like a low budget documentary.Though I am not a fan of Pa Ranjith's earlier works, I appreciate his ideologies. But to me, he used Rajinikanth to infuse his ideologies on us. Being a Rajini fan himself, he should have known the kind of Rajini that the audience wants to see on the screen. People loved to see Energetic Rajini who can fight, who can make jokes, who can romance the heroine and who can be a savior. Case in point - Baasha & Sivaji the Boss - Rajinikanth's best movies! But in Kabali, Rajini just looks lazy. He spends 80% of the time just sitting on chair, sharing his stories with youngsters, looking for his wife, chit-chatting with his gang members, chit-chatting with his daughter, chit-chatting with the villain etc. This is not what we came for. Watching Rajini's interview and his stage speeches on Youtube is more fun than watching these scenes!The entire sequence about "Free Life Foundation" does not add any value and further adds to the documentary feel of the movie. The youngsters, especially the "Tiger" character, are irritating to the max!VILLAINS are a big joke in this movie. Forget about Rajinikanth, these villains do not even deserve to go against Powerstar Sreenivasan. The Taiwan guy's tamil pronunciation made my ears bleed!Cinematography also looks extremely poor. I felt like watching a local Malaysian movie and not a 100cr+ Rajinikanth movie. Is this Intentional? I don't know.This whole idea of showcasing Malaysian Indians plight are also unnecessary and stirs negative ideas and mindsets to the youngsters in Malaysia. Being a Malaysian myself, I can surely say the government here has given ample opportunities and does not oppress them as shown in this movie. There is a strong unity between the Malays, Chinese and Indians living in Malaysia. The problem here is the people's mindset and reluctant to change. Some Indian youngsters here think they are "cool" if they joined a gang or have weird haircuts and tattoos. This is exactly what's topping them from improving their quality of life. The parents are also to be blamed. Generally, the tamil boys are not supervised strongly. Education is not given enough importance by these households. Despite living in crime-ridden environment, the parents refuse to move out for the sake of the children because they don't want to leave their comfort zones. This is a sad reality! If the mindset does not change, no one can improve. Does not matter which race they belong to. Therefore, I highly condemn Pa Ranjith to showcase as if the Malaysian govt has been oppressing and discriminating the Malaysian Indians. If you ask me, the Malaysian Govt. has done more to the Indians than what the Indian Govt. has done for its people. They have access to public schools, education loans, scholarships, job opportunities and housing.The director has also thrown a negative light on the Chinese. There is a scene in the movie where Rajinikanth says he will wear Coat suits, shoes and sit on the couch with his legs crossed if Chinese thinks Indians should not do all these. DUDE!!!! This is wrong on so many levels! In the end, Rajini kills all the Chinese gangsters. This is again not the right solution to solve the plight of Malaysian Indians!Overall, from my banter, you should have known I REALLY HATE THIS MOVIE! And yet, Rajinikanth's next movie is again with the same director. *SighAVOID THIS AT ALL COST!

vborn This is another example, how the Indian film producer S.Thanu is raising the expectations for a movie way too high, without thinking about the quality of the movie. With all due respect, making marketing like this has nothing to do with talent. The movie Kabali is easily the best movie of Superstar Rajini since Enthiran. It's totally a movie you should watch for the plot and the whole cast and not only for Rajini. What was good? First of all, the best thing about this movie is the godlike background score by Santhosh Narayanan, which is one of the best in Tamil cinema history in my opinion. It's not only good sounding, but on top of that it is played very wisely. This guy really is some kind of Hans Zimmer of India. Then the character development of most of the characters were great, especially Jeeva, which was performed extra-ordinary by Dinesh. I totally love that Rajini was playing a role, which was fitting to him. And all in all the first half of the movie was great in every aspect. Story-Telling at it's finest by Pa.Ranjith. One could totally relate to the tension of Kabali. The last sequence was a master-piece.What didn't feel right for me? Evan if the story is great, Pa.Ranjith still put in some forced Rajini moves. This movie didn't need that. Sometimes it killed the atmosphere of the movie. Although the characters were great, the movie didn't use the full potential of the characters. Especially the potential of Jeeva and Meena was wasted. While the first half was great, the second half was disappointing. It was too slow-paced and it was dragging. If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean. What disappointed me as well was the Kumaran character. Kalaiyarasan wasn't really the right choice for this character and the character development of this character wasn't complete as well.So, don't watch the movie with the thought of watching a bad movie. But don't watch it with too high expectations as well.

Athul Ramesh Rajnikanth was in his full form as an actor rather than a superstar, he plays the role of an aged, reformed gangster Kabaleeswaran who had fought for the oppressed in Malaysia and returns from his jail stay after twenty-five years. There are hardly any scenes that pass which do not involve Rajinikanth in it, but Ranjith(Director) has made sure that he has put all his acting resources to good effect. All the characters have been established having Rajinikanth alongside them. Rajinikanth has quite a few sentimental scenes which have come out very well. When it comes to Kabali, more than his mass mannerisms, it is the sentimental scenes of him that will be the talking point. On the technical side, Santhosh Narayanan's score is a major plus to the film, the editing and the costumes, especially Rajnikanth's classy suit were good and the art direction was not a promising one especially in the flash back scenes, And last but not least the direction and script, Director Ranjith has did a wonderful job as a director he showcased an entirely new Rajnikanth to the new generation audiences who saw him only in mass masala entertainers and speaking of the script which was not a tight one, it lacks speed and not thrilling enough for a Rajnikanth film . All in all Kabali is Rajinikanth in a different dimension, but it might not work for everyone. But if you wanna see the actor in Rajnikath give it a try it won't disappoint you in that case and don't watch it expecting a Basha or Sivaji

Astute Althean Let me start by saying that I am a great fan of Rajni films. I grew up watching his films. He was the real star who perfected commercial, mass films in the south. So, after Kochaidaiyaan, a really good story lost in mediocre computer animation, and Lingaa, a lackluster movie, came the teaser for Rajni's Kabali. Right from the start of the announcement of the movie I was excited. My expectations were meant.What many people failed to realize was that the director, Pa Ranjith, constantly repeated ,whenever he had a chance, that this is not going to be a Rajni film before the release of the movie. Where most people were misled, in a way, were the promotions for the movie which showcased the movie as a mass, commercial entertainer. Though I enjoyed the promotions, I took it with a grain of salt and I was right.The good: 1. Rajni- Rajni is known for his mannerisms and style, which is intact in the movie. But, after a long time, he emotes in this movie. The scenes where he sees his daughter and meets his wife after a long time showcased his acting chops and a different side of Rajni.2. Other actors- The movie had consistently good acting throughout ranging from the excellent part done by Radhika Apte to pulling off a gangster look and feel from Dhansika and the comedy relief provided by Dinesh, the movie had consistent acting throughout.3.Commercial elements - To satisfy the audience the director had a great intro scene ( probably the best intro since Sivaji), a good action scene following the intro scene , the "mass scene" where Rajni rams the car and the climatic fight, were planted throughout the movie.4. Story- This movie had a different take on a gangster's life. Rather than resorting to showing who is the boss , the movie explores the emotional aspect of a gangster and his emptiness without his family. The oppression of the Malay Tamil people was also touched upon but is not the primary focus of the movie.The not so good:1. Pacing- The movie suffered from pacing issues. The movie sometimes wound down to a crawl, which id not expected from a Rajni film.2. Editing? - Fast cuts and montage of scenes interwoven in quick succession can be used to speed up the plot. But , when it is used excessively, things get muddled and you are taken from the movie. The thing am reminded is when Rajni asks around for his daughter in the first half of the film which was conveyed by a bunch of scenes woven together. It pulled me out of the film for a while. Also, how kabali becomes a gangster is also conveyed in a same fashion.3.Wrong advertising- This movie should not have been advertised as a commercial movie at all. The producer tried to cash in the fame of Rajni and did so which led to the mixed reviews with which the movie opened with. But, once families flocked to the theater everyone saw the movie for what it was.4. Vfx - The vfx in the movie was spotty. The car explosion and the back-shot of Malaysia in the climax were mediocre at best.Verdict - A story of a gangster's search for his family with commercial movements mixed in. 8/10