Prior to assuming the role of the villain for Coolie, director Lokesh Kanagaraj hinted during several pre-release functions and interviews that Nagarjuna had read through the narration of the movie seven times. This fact, which was verified by Nagarjuna himself, created much anticipation among fans for a memorable, unique interpretation of the villain. But once the movie was released, the character turned out to be just a conventional villain, causing disappointment among many.
Although the styling and costumes received positive feedback, the character development seemed underwhelming. Despite being designed around intriguing concepts like gold watch smuggling and corpse burning, these aspects weren’t effectively explored in the storyline.
In comparison, the character of Soubin Shahir, who had a more emotional tone than Nagarjuna’s Simon, got more screen time and depth. Lokesh Kanagaraj’s assertion of a lot of work going into molding Soubin’s character came true as his character showed quite a bit of depth and complexity.
Soubin acted as an undercover police officer, Simon’s loyal sidekick at the dock, who later became a complex villain. It was an important character for him, and taking up several other offers to play Coolie was clearly a smart decision. Regardless of whether the movie performs well at the box office, Soubin Shahir will be in for a boom of prospects in the days to come.
This subtle characterization not only made the cut but also demonstrated Soubin’s acting range, guaranteeing his increasing popularity among the craft.