Aamir Khan's 'laughable' cameo in Rajinkanth's Coolie disappoints; Reddit says: 'Shah Rukh dodged a bullet rejecting it'

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

For almost four decades, Aamir Khan has been one of the foremost actors in Hindi cinema. But he has almost never crossed language boundaries, appearing in films from other Indian cinema industries. It took Rajinikanth to change that. The actor has a cameo in Rajini's latest release - Coolie - which hit the screens today (August 14). But Aamir's much-publicised cameo in the Lokesh Kanagaraj film has evoked mixed responses from the fans. Aamir Khan in a still from Coolie.
Minor spoilers for Coolie ahead!
What is Aamir Khan's role in Coolie?
Aamir appears towards the end of Coolie as Daaha, the head of a global criminal syndicate, of which the film's villain (Simon, played by Nagarjuna) is a part. Daaha faces off against Rajinikanth's Deva in an undisclosed location, with Deva's man Friday - Kalishaa (Upendra) - also present for the encounter. Prior to the film's release, the makers had revealed that Aamir had a cameo in Coolie, and even released a first-look poster. Aamir's character was featured in the film's trailer as well. Some reports had claimed that Lokesh had initially offered the role to Shah Rukh Khan, who could not say yes because of scheduling conflicts with his upcoming film, King.
Internet reacts to Aamir Khan's Coolie cameo
A post on the subreddit Boly Blinds n Gossip seemed to throw shade at the cameo with the title: 'So SRK really dodged a bullet by rejecting this cameo'. It implied that the cameo was not worthy of a star of the Khans' calibre. In the comments section, most agreed that not only was the cameo unmemorable, but Aamir was completely wasted in it. "Big escape. Worst cameo per reviews," read one comment. Another echoed, "Yeah, made a (clown emoji) out of him."
Many wondered why Aamir even agreed to do the film. One fan wrote, "The last 15 mins were UNBEARABLE. Why did he even accept to do this cameo? I was so done with the fight sequences. The movie by itself was super annoying. Liked the first half. Second half was super random." Another added, "Just came back from the FDFS of the Tamil version. Believe me, Aamir was wasted like anything. Dont know why even agreed to do this cameo. It was laugh-worthy."
Some Aamir fans put the blame on director Lokesh Kanagaraj, recalling that even Sanjay Dutt was not utilised properly in his previous film, Leo. "Believe it, Loki cannot use Bollywood actors; he only casts them to gain hype," complained one fan.
A few fans differed from the majority opinion, however, saying they liked seeing a different side of Aamir. "It was an unnecessary cameo, but it was pretty fun. Least it lent to a really great flashback sequence with a de-aged Rajini. Was cute hearing Aamir speak Tamizh too, and pretty well at that," wrote one.
All about Coolie
Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Coolie stars Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, Soubin Shahir, Sathyaraj, and Aamir. The film has opened to mixed reviews, but is set to break several box office records. Its advance bookings were the highest in the history of Tamil cinema.