One of the most exciting Bollywood box office clashes is happening on the Independence Day weekend this month. It’s between YRF’s ‘War 2’ and the great Rajnikanth’s Hindi-Tamil release ‘Coolie’. Both are being described as action thrillers. And while ‘War 2’ has Hrithik Roshan returning to YRF’s Spy Universe as an Intelligence agent, the film is beefed up further by South sensation NTR Jr. However, Rajnikanth is not taking on this formidable duo all by himself. He’s backed by none other than Bollywood’s Aamir Khan in a role everybody’s anxious to know more about. 

‘Coolie’, which has been directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, was announced in 2023 as ‘Thalaivar 171’ because it is Rajnikanth’s 171st film as lead actor. The South legend’s last film was the Tamil action drama ‘Vettaiyan’ in October 2024 that also marked Amitabh Bachchan’s debut in Kollywood. It made 124.4 crore in its opening weekend and subsequently was streamed on Amazon Prime Video in Tamil and dubbed Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada versions.

The trailer of 'Coolie' has already created a huge buzz on social media and Rajnikanth's gangster look has become a topic of discussion among his fans. Lokesh Kanagaraj has clarified that the film is a complete mass-action entertainer with a big surprise element added. The film has received an ‘A’ certificate making it only Rajnikanth’s second film since ‘Siva’ in 1989 to get the Censor Board’s severe scrutiny.

'Coolie' is produced by Kalanithi Maran of Sun Pictures and its cast includes Nagarjuna, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, Sathyaraj, Reba Monica John, Junior MGR and Monisha Blasey. There is wide speculation that Aamir Khan’s entry is only at the climax of the film. Nevertheless, fans of both superstars are eager to see Rajnikanth and Aamir in a film together after their ‘Aatank Hi Aatank’ in 1995.