Director Lokesh Kanagaraj's ambitious film Coolie, with Rajinikanth leading a big ensemble cast, is the highest-grossing Tamil of 2025. However, the film received mixed to negative reviews from critics and audiences when it hit theatres last August. Recently, Soundarya Rajinikanth weighed in on the feedback for the film. Speaking to Galatta Plus, Soundarya said that the final 10 minutes of the film, including the portions showing a de-aged version of the superstar, "stood out" for her. She also said, "As a Thalaivar fan, I wanted more of him in that film."
Saying that she liked Coolie, Soundarya also admitted that it might not be one of her ten most favourite Rajinikanth films. The filmmaker said that her favourite Rajinikanth starrers include Baashha, Padayappa, Shivaji, Annamalai, and Thillu Mullu.
Calling Thillu Mullu "the funniest film," she highlighted the combination scenes between Rajinikanth and Thengai Srinivasan's characters in it. "I spoke about this movie recently, and every time I saw it and talk about it to somebody in a casual conversation, some scene or the other from it would spring up."
Speaking of Baashha, Padayappa, Shivaji, and Annamalai, many audiences feel that Coolie features Rajinikanth in a more restrained role. For them, Rajinikanth's Deva does not deliver one-liners and explode into action in the same way his characters in the other films do. Many also opine that some of the extended cameos in the film, such as that of Upendra's character, are not necessary, and that those portions could have been replaced with Rajinikanth himself.
Coming back to Soundarya Rajinikanth, her upcoming film as a producer is first-time director Madhan's With Love, starring Abishan Jeevinth and Anaswara Rajan.
