Acclaimed Tamil filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj, who’s awaiting the discharge of Coolie, his much-awaited motion movie with Rajinikanth, revealed on Monday (July 14) that the celebrity compared Coolie with his iconic 1991 Mani Ratnam-directed movie Thalapathi.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Lokesh, whereas talking about how he didn’t need to change the thought of a Rajinikanth movie, mentioned that he wished to emulate the fragile steadiness of star-filmmaking and aptitude that Mani Ratnam’s movie 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 movie whereas dubbing, Rajinikanth too appears 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 special story pitched to and authorized by Rajinikanth, however that he requested the celebrity to contemplate a special script. Now, whereas recounting the identical, Lokesh has revealed that the unique movie was a fantasy movie. “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 need 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),” mentioned Lokesh, explaining how he had initially given the thought of Coolie to a director pal 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 launch in theatres on August 14, Rajinikanth’s Coolie options an ensemble star forged that features Upendra, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Pooja Hegde, Soubin Shahir, Sathyaraj, and Shruti Haasan. While Pooja Hegde is about to seem in a particular function, teased within the not too long ago launched observe ‘Monica’, Bollywood celebrity Aamir Khan will function in a particular cameo within the movie.
Anirudh Ravichander is composing music for the film, whereas Girish Gangadharan is the cinematographer. Anbariv is in command of the stunt choreography. Produced by Kalanithi Maran of Sun Pictures, Coolie will face off with the spy motion drama War 2, starring Jr NTR and Hrithik Roshan, on the field workplace.
Meanwhile, Rajinikanth is at present taking pictures for Jailer 2. Directed by Nelson, the film is a sequel to the hit 2023 film. Anirudh is the music composer for Jailer 2, which may even function Kannada star Shivarajkumar in an vital function.
