Superstar Rajinikanth’s upcoming movie Coolie, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, will release under a different title in Hindi, Majadoor (worker).
While the movie’s producers are yet to announce the change, it was revealed by the FM radio network Red FM India.
The title Coolie has been used by many Hindi films — be it Amitabh Bachchan’s 1983 cult classic or Govinda’s comic caper Coolie no. 1 (1995), which was rebooted 25 years later with Varun Dhawan in the lead.
Some fans questioned the need for the change, claiming that it might not sit well, while others cited copyright issues prompting it.
Rajinikanth’s Coolie, produced by Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Pictures, features a raft of leading actors, including Nagarjuna Akkineni, Upendra Rao, Sathyaraj, Shoubin Shahir and Shruti Haasan. The movie also features Bollywood star Aamir Khan in a cameo. Khan, in a recent interview, said his role appears in the latter part, and that he plans to do a full-fledged movie with Kanagaraj in 2026.
Kanagaraj has helmed many blockbusters in his relatively short career.
Be it the Vijay, Trisha Krishnan and Sanjay Dutt action thriller Leo, which posted a record opening in 2023, or the critically acclaimed Vikram (2022), which starred Kamal Haasan, Fahadh Faasil and Vijay Sethupathi, Kanagaraj has become synonymous with big productions, a mélange of leading actors and box office gold.
Many of his movies, which focus on how narcotics smugglers meet their end with the law, have been dubbed the LCU, or Lokesh Cinematic Universe — inspired by the Marvel and DC Comics cinematic universes of Hollywood. Kanagaraj's other productions include Kaithi (2019), remade in Hindi as Bholaa, and Master (2021).
Nagarjuna, in a recent interview to The Hollywood Reporter India, clarified that he will be playing the antagonist in Coolie. In the interview, he remarked that playing an evil person felt “liberating”, and that “there was no pressure in how I acted”.
Nagarjuna won laurels for his nuanced role in the recently released socio-crime drama Kuberaa, also starring Dhanush and Rashmika Mandanna.
Rajinikanth, meanwhile, is fresh off the success of Vettaiyan, the crime drama that pitted him against Rana Daggubati and featured Bachchan in a key role.
Anirudh Ravichander, who had to recently asked people to stop spreading rumours about his link-up with Maran’s daughter Kavya, is the music composer for Coolie. The movie releases on August 14.
Will Coolie be a part of the famed LCU? Audiences will have to wait.
'Kuberaa' Movie Review: Engaging and gripping, but falls short Anirudh Ravichander asks people to not spread rumours about his wedding
