Movie Name: Coolie
Rating: 2.5/5
Cast: Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna, Upendra, Shruti Hassan, Soubin Shahir, Sathyaraj, Aamir Khan, and Others
Director: Lokesh Kanagaraj
Produced By: Sun Pictures
Release Date: 14th August 2025
Coolie, the action drama directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and starring Superstar Rajinikanth, has built a humongous hype among audiences with its huge star cast, electrifying music, and exciting promos. The film’s advance bookings showed how crazy audiences are about the film. Today, the film is out in theaters. Let’s check whether the film lived up to the expectations or not in our review.
Story:
In the film, we see Deva (Rajinikanth), a lonely elderly man living in his mansion. When his friend (Sathyaraj) mysteriously dies, Deva picks up on some danger surrounding Preeti, his friend’s daughter. The story then unravels how this all relates to Simon and his smuggling business while digging into Deva’s past.
Performances:
Director Lokesh Kanagaraj showcases superstar Rajinikanth flawlessly. Rajini has some standout moments as an actor, but overall, it seems like just another laid-back character for him.
Nagarjuna, playing Simon, shines in the first half and delivers an intense scene near the conclusion that gets a fantastic reaction from the crowd. However, the last fight between Nag and Rajini could have been more exciting.
After a while, Shruti Haasan picks up a significant role and does well. While Upendra and Aamir Khan’s cameos are not that great, their parts at the end get the job done.
Soubin Shahir, the Malayalam actor, gets a significant role in Coolie and gets plenty of screen time, delivering a good performance. Sathyaraj fits right into his brief part, and Rachita Ram impresses everyone with her surprising character. Kanna Ravi and others are okay.
Analysis:
Lokesh Kanagaraj, famous for his epic action flicks, is at the helm of Coolie. The movie kicks off with a cool port setting, giving us a quick but captivating look at Simon (Nagarjuna). Things keep a decent level of engagement until the intermission, though nothing provides the high energy or sets a new standard.
The introduction of Deva and the sentiment angle with Preethi are alright. The fight in the hostel and a couple of iconic Rajini scenes, including the interval, work well for the film.
In the second half, Coolie kind of drops the ball. Lokesh lays down a solid foundation for Simon’s character and creates some good tension for his showdown with Deva, but he does not capitalize on it.
The scenes featuring Soubin Shahir and Shruti Haasan take far too long to wrap up. The link between the villains needed more work to make sense. However, the Kokki Theme fight and the penultimate portions of the backstory at the end provide a reasonably high level, with the help of cameos by Upendra and Aamir Khan
Positives:
- Superstar Rajinikanth’s Screen Presence
- A Few Elevated Scenes/Fights
- Anirudh’s Music
Negatives:
- Very Simple Story
- Not So Great Use of Nagarjuna as Simon
- Camoes Needed Better Setup
- Inconsistent Feel
Coolie Movie Review and Verdict:
Coolie by Lokesh Kanagaraj feels like a run-of-the-mill revenge story. Superstar Rajinikanth’s presence, some thrilling moments, Anirudh’s catchy background score, and a large ensemble cast all contribute to making it fairly enjoyable. However, the film’s story is too simple, and the taking is also nothing special, which would disappoint the audiences who have high expectations on the film
