The Hindu : Front Page : Rajini’s magic works in ‘Kuselan’ too

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Rajini’s magic works in ‘Kuselan’ too

Meera Srinivasan

— Photo: R. Ravindran

BUBBLY FANS: Children at the special screening of ‘Kuselan’ in Chennai on Friday.

CHENNAI: For a Rajinikanth film, the celebration at the release of Kuselan on Friday seemed a little low-key, but fans were evidently pleased with their thalaivar’s new film.

The usual Kollywood rituals, including pal abhishekams, bursting of crackers and dancing to fast-paced drum beats were all there, but in relatively small doses compared to the launch of other ‘superstar’ films. But a few cinemas conventionally known for celebrations still wore a festive look. With larger-than-life cut-outs of the actor put up all over, Albert theatre was surely the place to be for hardcore Rajini fans.

K. Viswanathan, a member of the Free Star Rajinikanth Fans’ Association in Otteri, who was busy moderating the crowd at the theatre, said: “In this film, thalaivar has played a very mature, age-appropriate role. The film highlights the beauty of friendship and has a very nice message.”

A. Dinesh Kumar, another film buff, said: “He has done something different in the last three films. In Chandramukhi, he played an unconventional role of a psychiatrist. Shivaji was a true Rajini film. In Kuselan again, he underplays.”

“There is not even one action sequence in the film. But he still pulls it off. That’s the Rajinikanth magic. The climax is very touching,” said Joseph Prasanna.

Fans also said actor Pasupathy’s performance was very impressive.

Interesting contrast

The scene at the not-so-far-away Woodlands theatre was an interesting contrast. Over 600 children from the Give Life Foundation saw the film specially screened for them by the Pyramid Saimira Group, the distributors. Along with the director of the film, P. Vasu, and cinematographer Arvind Krishna, Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and Father Jegath Gasper, founders of Give Life, attended the special screening. Managers of most cinemas said all the shows were booked till Monday.

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