Coolie Movie Review: What's Good, What's Bad In Rajinikanth's Film? Find Out From Viewers' Words

Coolie Review: Here is the big day. Rajinikanth's Coolie, the most-hyped movie since Kabali in 2017, has hit the screens on Wednesday and opened to mixed response. The superstar has collaborated with Lokesh Kanagaraj of Vikram and Kaithi fame.

Coolie Movie Review

The movie has some of the big names from the Indian film industry. Telugu actor Nagarjuna will be seen in the role of the antagonist. Kannada actor Upendra has done an important role, while Bollywood's Perfectionist Aamir Khan has enacted a cameo.

Shruti Haasan, Sathyaraj, Soubin Shahir, Rachita Ram, Reba Monica John, Kanna Ravi, Monsiha Blessy, Kaali Venkat and others are in the cast. The movie has Anirudh Ravichander's music. The Tamil film has Girish Gangadharan's cinematography and Philomin Raj' editing.

Rajasekhar (Sathyaraj) creates a revolutionary mobile cremation system to serve the public good. However, his noble invention is hijacked by the ruthless smuggler Simon (Nagarjuna), who twists its purpose for his sinister operations. Following Rajasekhar's tragic and mysterious death, his close friend Deva (Rajinikanth) vows to protect his orphaned daughters, led by Preethi (Shruthi Haasan).

Deva's quest for justice plunges him into a dark underworld, forcing him to confront Simon, a man with whom he may share a forgotten past. As hidden truths about Simon's empire and a shadowy figure named Dayal (Soubin Shahir) begin to surface, Deva must also reckon with the secrets of his own identity. The path to vengeance is paved with deception, leading to an explosive confrontation where old scores will be settled and the true faces of heroes and villains will be revealed.

What's Good, What's Bad In Rajinikanth Film?

The first half is uneven, with only the second half offering a standout flashback sequence. Rajini's trademark swag lights up the screen, though his role feels underplayed. Nagarjuna impresses but is sidelined later, and cameos feel forced. Anirudh's music adds punch, but production values are surprisingly modest for a Lokesh film. The narrative borrows from Vikram and nods to Baashha and Jailer, with well-done de-ageing and 80s portions. Ultimately, Coolie is a watchable but safe revenge drama - elevated by its star power, yet held back by a rehashed, commercially safe screenplay.

Audience's Response

The audience has lavishly praised the introduction scenes of Rajinikanth and his counterpart Nagarjuna. The superstar's screen presence, the interval blockand Anirudh's background score are top-notch.

However, the lack of high theatrical moments has not gone well with the general audience. Find out what the audience say about Rajinikanth-starrer:

Telugu360: First on Net Review #Coolie

Coolie turns out to be a letdown. With expectations sky-high, Lokesh Kanagaraj delivers a disappointment. The first half is passable, while the second half feels like a test of patience. Aside from using a couple of old movie songs during fight sequences, Lokesh shows little creativity. There are few elements for Rajini fans but those are not suffice . Nagarjuna as simon Good and swag was good in " I am the danger" song

The production feels cheap - apart from spending on the cast, there's hardly any richness in the making, with most of the film shot in Vizag and on a port set. The much-hyped Monica song also falls flat on the big screen. Except for the last 20 minutes, Soubin ends up with more screen time than Rajinikanth. Overall, keep your expectations very low then you might feel less pain.

PaniPuri:#Coolie Review : "Hey #LokeshKanagaraj"🙏🙏

👉Rating : 2.25/5 ⭐️ ⭐️

Positives:
👉Screen presence of #SuperstarRajnikanth
👉#Anirudh's pulsating BGM

Negatives:
👉Storyline
👉Sluggish screenplay struggles to maintain momentum
👉 The direction lacks clarity and focus, resulting in a film that feels disjointed and uninspired despite the star power

Venky Reviews: #Coolie is a mediocre revenge drama that has a few solid moments here and there, but the rest feels amateurish.

The film leans more on drama compared to Loki's previous works. While the drama works partially, the typical Loki style elevations are missing apart from one good flashback cut sequence towards the climax.

There are a few solid moments/well-executed action blocks, but when the rest of the film is not up to the mark, those moments lose their impact.

Rajni, as always, carries his role with his trademark swag and gets a few signature moments, although it feels like Loki underplayed his role a lot. Nagarjuna gets a refreshing role and delivers superbly, but he is sidelined in the second half. Cameos feel forced and unwanted.

Anirudh's music is apt, and he tries to elevate the film where he can. Production values are mid, and the technically strong output we expect from Loki is missing. Keep your expectations in check. This ends up being a strictly ok watch.

Rating: 2.5/5

#Coolie Ordinary 1st Half!

Takes time to get going and starts off pretty flat with a non linear screenplay. Picks up momentum from the Pre-Interval portions. Few solid moments here and there work well. Has a decent 2nd half set up, needs to capitalize.

AmuthaBharathi: #Coolie First Half - Above Average 🤝

- Superstar Rajinikanth's Into & Nagarjuna's Intro was so stylish ❤️‍🔥
- Soubin's character arc was so good & his scene are so good👌
- Eventhough film has only few high Theatrical moment, screenplay was engaging 🤝
- Anirudh's music was well supporting the film 🎶
- As compared to Lokesh's previous films, the film has less high theatrical moments !!
- Interval point & the small twist was the peak stuff in the first half🤩

Onto the interesting second half 🤞

Siddarth Srinivas: #Coolie Interval: Neat so far. Lokesh's screenplay does not have the excitement of his earlier films but it is quite engaging and follows a settled treatment. Loved Chikitu & the girls hostel sequence. Superstar, Shruti, Soubin are killer, making it a fine watch until now.

Haricharan Pudipeddi: #Coolie at interval. Lokesh focuses on building the plot more than relying just on superstar's machismo. It works quite well in the film's favour. Kinda steps away from quintessential mainstream entertainer tropes and presents a more realistic first half.

AB George: #Coolie an average film with a decent first half and comparatively better second half with a completely different Superstar, Superb ani, big star cast and some moments here and there.

Superstar, Ani, Soubin, mansion fight, Upendea, flash back scenes were good. Nag & Amir were just okay.

Weakest one from Loki.

Rajasekar: #Coolie - @Dir_Lokesh
has played it to the gallery this time . IMO his most commercialised screenplay and he has also rehashed the same template of Vikram (Rachita Ram, non-linear screenplay to find out the mystery behind a dead man, multiple cameos ) borrowed moments from Superstar Rajinikanth's previous BB Jailer including the Monica song (which is not the usual Loki style).

Superstar's aura and majestic screen presence is what holding the film together whenever things nosedive. Doesn't matter even its umpteenth number of time, whenever he catches Beedi, theater goes mad.

It's not easy to assemble an ensemble cast like this . The production house has given whatever the film demanded. However, Nagarjuna and Shoubin 's characters are underdone

On the brighter note, Deageing portions have come well! The throwback to the 80s is more like a Baashah flavour given to Deva (Rajinikanth). Shruti is earnest in the role offered to her but we wish she could've given more scope.

With Lokesh, expect a lot is completely justified because you know he is one of the finest filmmakers and his screenplays were immaculate, staging were exemplary in the past . Wish he spend more time in

Christopher Kanagaraj: #Coolie - Charismatic Superstar, Flashback Deaging seq Mass. Shoubin full fledge role. Stylish Nagarjuna, but Poor characterization. Shruthi & Rachita gud Perf. Anirudh superb work. Weak Content & Clumsy screenplay; Its all over the places. Gud Actions. Wannabe Cameos. AVERAGE!
Keep your Expectations LOW!
First Half - OK
Energetic Superstar, Stylish Nagarjuna, Performer Shruthi. Anirudh Maja. 4 songs. Scenes r Kinda Disconnected. Interval Block & Vintage Song Pakka!

PaniPuri: #Coolie First Half Report : "AVERAGE FIRST HALF"

👉The first half lacks major high points or impactful moments.

👉#Nagarjuna feels severely underutilized, with limited scope.

👉The storyline is thin, offering little depth or substance.

👉The screenplay is sluggish and drags for the most part.

Sharat Chandra: Good first half! Rajini commands the screen with his magnetic presence and great dialogue delivery. Soubhin, Nagarjuna and Shruti complement the narrative well. The film follows a different story structure and unfolds like an engaging investigation with standout moments including Chikitu, the hostel fight and both pre-interval and interval sequences that elevate the tension.

Some portions feel a bit flat, and the editing there could've been tighter but overall, the stage is set perfectly for a gripping second half #Coolie #CoolieFDFS

Vamsi_Naidu: First Half 🔥 💥

Energetic Superstar 🔥 Stylish Nagarjuna🤩 Shruthi Hassan also played very well 🤞Anirudh BGMs🔥🔥 interval vere level

#Coolie #CoolieFromAug14

kaali02: Okayish first half - BGM worked fantastic

Interval daka story loki Chinnaga teeskapoyadu loki boi

Seated for second half 👍

#coolie

Vaibhav Bharadwaj: #Coolie
@Dir_Lokesh saved the best for last 40 mins with vintage rajnism and end the movie with terrific blast and Aamir Khan cameo❤️‍🔥 Movie is far better than previous lokesh disasters like #Leo & #Master but not high like vikram and kaithi.Overall it's satisfying watch & winner
#Coolie 2nd half till now is testing patience to extreme level😭😭😭 This may not work out 🙏🙏🙏 theatre in Deep sleep mode
#Coolie 1st half is dull and boring with poor screenplay and no high moments till now except thalaivar screen presence.
@anirudhofficialcalso not helping much. Need a better 2nd half pls @Dir_Lokesh

Mohan Sai Soma 👑: #CoolieReview done with first half... super star in vintage look .. and king Nagarjuna 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥#CoolieTelugu

Mollywood BoxOffice: #Coolie
Weakest of Lokesh. Tried, tested, formulaic rehash of countless films from the past, that too without the expected punch. Nag, Uppi and Rachita Ram shine while Aamir gets wasted.
#Coolie - Interval
Lokesh masala minus the usual highs. Opened up enough tracks to go full blast in the second half though. 3 songs, one fight, King Nag oozing style and lighting up the screen whenever he shows up, a fresh looking Thalaivar. Fingers crossed for the second half blast.

Harish:#Coolie It's a wrap!

Second half starts slow and peaks at mid point.. And then no stopping this monster.

Best parts saved for the second half of the second half 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Dahaa and the Coolie gang 🥵🥵🥵

Thanks Lokesh and team. Mass monster!

#Coolie peak peak peaks here .. Powerhouse looks🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Mudichulama 🥵🥵🥵🥵

Aaaand it's intermission time!

Racy, stylish, performances, music, Chikitu, Monica all of it works so far.

Hostel fight is probably one of the best action laced with fun, the vintage Rajini we all knew.

#Rajinikanth #CoolieFDFS #DiscoDisco
Shruthi is too good so far .. very grounded performance and the emotional scenes work 👌👌
Thalaivar and his Telugu 🤣🤣🤣🤣 .. Thodra pakkalam.. Yov Lokesh 🤣

Bhargav Reddy: #cooliereview(2025) is a mass-loaded action drama with Rajinikanth in peak form. Lokesh Kanagaraj delivers style and swagger, backed by Shruti Haasan's strong role, Nagarjuna's grit, and Aamir Khan's surprise cameo. A fiery entertainer fans will love.

@iamnagarjuna

@shrutihaasan

Karan Waghmare: #CoolieReview
First half is the best, full of action emotion, but the second half doesn't match the hype. No LCU connection, background score 💥, & Good Direction. maintains enough drama Overall, enjoyable watch. Rajini's charisma still shines!

⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5

Panjaa: Honest #CoolieReview : Thread 👇
C gave me a migraine. LoKi just drowns you in noise, all those star cast + cameos r wasted Chewgum.

Forced Rajnism is stale, and Nagarjuna... man, looked like a total joker 🙏 .
That flashback* actually hit well.. apart Rest was just... exhausting.
Aamir Khan appears but serves no purpose. Upendra, Shruti, and Sathyaraj are underused in filler. Flashbacks, potentially interesting, are lost in endless elevation scenes. #CoolieFDFS #Coolie #CoolieReview
Soubin Shahir's arc had promise but got lost in the chaos. The Monica song is a genuine vibe. Pre-climax buildup had me leaning in... but the climax? Saw it coming a mile away. #CoolieFDFS #Coolie #CoolieReview
Overall : Coolie is a full-blown headache - loud for no reason, all style no soul. Just another cheap Tamil mass template stretched till it snaps.

The Silent Monk: #CoolieReview
#Coolie: RAJINI AT HIS PEAK!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

From the very first frame, Rajinikanth owns the screen. His entry? Pure goosebumps. Every move, every dialogue, every smirk-electric ⚡. Action sequences are jaw-dropping, larger-than-life, and perfectly choreographed. Comedy lands effortlessly, emotions hit just right, and the pacing never lets you blink.

The second half amps it even further-climax is nothing short of a thunderbolt, leaving you cheering in your seat. And that post-credit scene? A perfect cherry on top 🍒, teasing just enough to leave fans buzzing.

Coolie is more than a film; it's a full-on Rajini rollercoaster-style, swag, drama, action, and emotion, all at full throttle. Mass entertainment redefined. Do yourself a favor: watch it on the biggest screen possible. 🎬

DON'T MISS IT💥

Going to Mars: #CoolieReview 4.5/5

From the first gunshot to the last twist, Coolie is a non-stop rollercoaster. Multiple titans on opposite sides, bound by a past they can't escape. Rajini, Nag stands out. Every frame screams style, every punch lands with emotion. Goosebumps. #RajiniSir𓃵

South Digital Media: Going to Mars
@going_marss
#CoolieReview 4.5/5

From the first gunshot to the last twist, Coolie is a non-stop rollercoaster. Multiple titans on opposite sides, bound by a past they can't escape. Rajini, Nag stands out. Every frame screams style, every punch lands with emotion. Goosebumps. #RajiniSir𓃵