At 74 years old, Tamil legend Rajinikanth remains effortlessly suave, making him worthy of not one, but two of his own logos prior to “ Coolie ,” his 170th film. Director Lokesh Kanagaraj ’s latest is a cheer-out-loud crime saga in which hyper-violence has the gracefulness of dance. It has a lead character so magnetic that even its story’s messiest, most convoluted parts remain fixed around his orbit, as he goes supernova once more.

Kanagaraj’s grimy, lurid approach may seem like a strange bedfellow for mass-appeal hero worship. But if his films have proved anything, it’s that he’s incredibly adept at striking balance, grounding the star power of stylish lead figures like Kamal Haasan, while filtering character actors like Vijay Sethupathi through an operatic lens, compromising on t

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