The Kamal Haasan–Rajinikanth reunion film: Is Nelson the right choice?

Not many may be aware of what Nelson brings to the table apart from this comic streak: a sense of equilibrium. Working with Kamal Haasan closely on the sets of popular TV reality show Bigg Boss, Nelson is well aware of the actor’s film language and acting traits. With Rajinikanth, the equation might be even more settled; they have worked on the superhit Jailer and are currently working on Jailer 2. That the said 2023 hit also featured pan-India stars like Mohanlal, Shiva Rajkumar and Jackie Shroff in cameo appearances signals that this director can handle big names with conviction.

The Bigg Boss and the Jailer experiences in recent years would have made him less fanboyish, something that will hold him in good stead as he takes up this massive reunion that brings both of them together after many years. Bring it on, Nelson!

Rajinikanth, Nelson, Anirudh and Kamal Haasan in a still from the promo of ‘KH x RK’
| Photo Credit:
Red Giant Movies/YouTube

“No, he isn’t,” says Bhuvanesh Chandar

While Kollywood rejoices in the coming together of two of its biggest superstars, the question I can’t help but ask the makers is this: Is Nelson really the best choice to helm the film of the century?

First of all, though an underdog getting the golden ticket puts an instant smile on our faces, the Jailer-maker is yet to show a knack for handling a superstar, let alone two.

One need not say much about the dud that was Vijay’s Beast, but even Jailer — the box office hit that redeemed Nelson — rode more on Rajinikanth’s screen presence and superstar appeal than on a screenplay worth investing in. I vividly remember what a friend told me about his experience watching Jailer: “I liked many individual moments and I had a blast at the theatres, but there isn’t anything memorable about the film. It’s a plain story.” And that’s precisely what Jailer was all about — it was a masala star-vehicle aimed at appeasing the Instagram generation.

Remove the many Rajinikanth slow-motion walks to ‘Alappara Kelapurom,’ the cameos that desperately try to save the mood, and the shock value that watching a violence-heavy Rajini film offers, and all you are left with is a shallow plot. If that was the case for a film with just one superstar, what if Nelson had two? Are we getting ready for a film that would essentially be a series of hero-gasmic showreels strung together?

Now, let’s come to the other factor that qualifies a director to helm a KH x RK film — prior experience writing multi-starrers that offer equal importance to all its leads. Nelson not only has no experience in that regard, but he also has a history of underutilising actors and stars in his arsenal, like unnecessarily casting Shine Tom Chacko in Beast. The many cameos of Mohanlal, Shiva Rajkumar and Jackie Shroff in Jailer, too, were nothing more than tokens to obtain a ‘pan-India’ tag.

Nelson’s films have also largely been unidimensional crime comedies with formulaic treatment. Whenever the filmmaker finds his script lacking in material, he would lean on Anirudh for a special dance track to amp up the energy — and if the unnecessarily prolonged slow-motion shots of skimpily clad women oggling at the two superstars in the promo of KH x RK say something, it is that Nelson once again shows signs of struggle in a project that would demand he punch above his weight.