The Coolie effect: The star ensemble problem with our blockbuster cinema

For instance, Mohanlal’s character Mathew in Jailer makes his entry at a pivotal moment, where the stakes are high and the hero is backed up against the wall by an unreasonable demand from the villain to pull off a one-of-a-kind heist to rescue his son.

This scenario could easily have been resolved by Rajinikanth pulling off a stunner and single-handedly planning the elaborate heist with his men, without outside support. But the writing instead builds the conflict organically, adding legitimacy to the larger-than-life ‘Muthuvel Pandian’ legend so often referenced in the film. The narrative establishes him as a man at the top of the pecking order, with allies capable of making life a living hell for his enemies. These may be basic writing beats, but every screenplay needs to chart that inevitable dip in the hero’s journey before following it up with an upward surge. It’s this fluctuating rhythm that forms the beating heart of what makes the ‘commercial whistle’ moments truly land.

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Coolie unfolds in a hyper-busy world, where events cascade into one another and new players and contextual reveals keep pushing the narrative forward with breathless momentum. The writing is already primed to hit multiple markers and plot points, leaving little room to build any meaningful arc into the hero’s journey. In this larger scheme, the star-studded ensemble feels less like an organic extension and more like a marketing afterthought, an attempt to amplify scale rather than enrich the story.

Take, for instance, Nagarjuna Akkineni’s Simone, introduced as a menacing crime boss but treated almost like an extended cameo. Though positioned as the film’s primary antagonist, he drifts in and out of Coolie at irregular intervals, with little narrative weight. His presence never truly registers, especially as Soubin’s Dayal eventually undercuts any menace Simone might have commanded in the latter half. By sidelining him for long stretches and then thrusting him back in breathlessly toward the finale, the film’s strategy feels more like a miscalculation than a masterstroke.

The performers are all present, and the initial intrigue does help build tension. We genuinely want to see more of stars like Upendra and Aamir Khan, yet they are parachuted into the narrative at random, without real stakes or any sense of imminent danger tied to their presence. The casting feels like a paint-by-numbers exercise, padding thinly written characterizations with stylistic flair. While it may be unfair to compare two very different films like Jailer and Coolie, there’s an undeniable overlap in how major stars are both used and underused in these large-scale productions. In today’s era of dwindling theatrical engagement, there exists a kind of screenwriting language that treats the ‘star cameo’ as a necessary evil, where the mere presence of a star, paired with the right material, is enough to generate pre-release buzz and shape audience expectations.

At the same time, there is an increasing reliance on filmmakers and their distinctive storytelling styles, which seem to have captured the public’s imagination. Viewers now revere certain directors and anticipate a unique dimensionality in how they deploy stars and stardom on screen. The most prominent examples of this trend include Lokesh Kanagaraj, Karthik Subbaraj, SS Rajamouli, and Prashanth Neel, among others. There is a palpable excitement when the ‘right’ director collaborates with the ‘right’ star. While these directors can cast relatively unknown actors and still keep viewers engaged, the dynamic changes when a major star is brought into the picture. In such cases, audiences inevitably factor in both the star’s legacy and the director’s track record, raising expectations. Consequently, any hint of complacency or miscalculation in casting diminishes the overall viewing experience.

The expectation of a theatre-worthy moment featuring a favorite matinee idol, paired with a reasonably crafted narrative, is no longer enough to guarantee box office success. Audiences today cheer for well-written characters rather than just the stars who portray them, and it is the quality of the writing that ultimately delivers that elusive ‘theatre high.’ The era of forced cameos and star casting to appease specific regional markets or fan bases is fading, and rightfully so, as it has always been a fool’s errand. In fact, we’ve seen several recent films boasting impressive, above-the-title names, yet many of these performances feel hollow, exposing the glaring void in character writing that even the biggest stars cannot mask.

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The image of Shivrajkumar handing a tissue box to Ramya Krishnan during a shootout, Mohanlal lighting a cigar as three trucks flip into the air in Jailer, or the iconic intermission scene in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Vikram, where Fahadh Faasil, Vijay Sethupathi, and Kamal Haasan cross paths in the most unexpected way, these moments work because the writing carefully builds the characters into corners where heightened drama feels earned, and each role serves the narrative. In Coolie, however, there is a noticeable dissonance between how the star parts are written and how they are cast. It’s disheartening to watch talented, charismatic actors reduced to mere embellishments meant to mask weak writing. Hopefully, filmmakers will find more compelling ways to integrate star power into ensemble films without compromising the essence of the stories they aim to tell.