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Coolie plot theories feat. Thee, Rebel Moon, The Dark Knight, Electric Chair, Luxury Watches, Human Trafficking, & More!

PUBLISHED DATE : 07/Aug/2025

Coolie plot theories feat. Thee, Rebel Moon, The Dark Knight, Electric Chair, Luxury Watches, Human Trafficking, & More!

Coolie written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj is a Rajinikanth-lead multi-starrer film that is all set to release in theaters worldwide on August 14, 2025. Coolie has been described by Lokesh Kanagaraj as a certified action thriller, and Coolie trailer promises a mass action feat. Rajinikanth, Aamir Khan, Nagarjuna, Upendra,  Sathyaraj, Soubin Shahir, among others. 

 

Coolie trailer also opened up the floodgates to theories about the plot of the movie, and here is a short summary of what can be seen in the video: 

 

1. Thee (1981) Sequel Coolie

Deewar (1975) written by Salim-Javed, and directed by Yash Chopra is an Amitabh Bachchan starrer action drama that was produced by Gulshan Rai of Trimurthi Films Pvt Ltd. This Hindi film was remade in Tamil as Thee (1981), where Rajinikanth looses his trade unionist father to the blackmails of the rich and the powerful, and inturn mob justice.

After Rajinikanth's arm gets branded with the tattoo, "My father is a thief", he moves cities with his family, becoming a dockyard worker in his youth, and later a most wanted smuggler of the underworld. Thee ends with 'Raja' Rajinikanth's death, and his pregnant lover Anita getting murdered too, whom Raja had planned to escape with on a boat leaving his gangster life behind. 

 

Coolie right from its onset has called back to Thee, then be with bringing back the shipyard from the film's first announcement, or Rajinikanth's signature 'Thee' outfits in the promo of film's first single Chikitu. Coolie trailer further showcases Rajinikanth's 'Deva' character as a coolie worker in the past, who mimics Thee Raja's signature style of lighting a match on his dock coolie metal plate, and moving his cigarette sideways using his mouth. 

 A leaked Coolie plot also suggests that Rajinikanth's character used to be a dreaded gangster, similar to his 'Raja' character in Thee. A cemetery which recurrently appears in Thee, holds significance in the 44 year old movie because that is where 'Raja' Rajinikanth gets to erase the branded tattoo on his hand after his father's death. Coolie trailer showcases Rajinikanth digging in a graveyard, and the cemetry and the shovel was prominently featured on one of Coolie's posters. 

All of this has lead many to believe Coolie maybe a spiritual sequel to Thee, with Shruthi Haasan's Preethi character being Rajinikanth's daughter (implying Rajinikanth faked his and pregnant lover's death in Thee) as opposed to Sathyaraj's in Coolie. Lokesh Kanagaraj has previously made Vikram (2022) as a spiritual sequel to Kamal Haasan's Vikram (1986), so this Thee plot theory is not completely off the charts. 

 

Additional Trivia: When Vikram (1986) returned with a sequel in Vikram (2022) after a 36-year gap, it coincidentally mirrored the comeback of Tom Cruise’s Top Gun (1986) with its sequel Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Similarly, while Thee (1981) is the Tamil remake of Yash Chopra directed Deewaar, the Telugu remake is Magaadu (1976), which starred N.T. Rama Rao in the lead. In 2025, history seems to echo again—Thee’s spiritual sequel Coolie is set to clash at the box office with War 2, a film produced by Yash Chopra’s legacy banner YRF, and starring Jr. NTR, the son of N.T. Rama Rao.

 

2. Coolie inspired from Rebel Moon

Between December 2023 and April 2024, a digital creator by the name Bartos Gyorgy had designed two tribute posters to Zack Snyder's space opera movies Rebel Moon (2023), and its sequel Rebel Moon-Part Two: The Scargiver. Coolie's publicity designer Gopi Prasanna incorporated Bartos Gyorgy's work for one of Coolie's posters, leading many to believe there might be a connection between the two films. 

Coolie trailer suggests that Rajinikanth, a former dock coolie/gangster is on a mission to protect Shruthi Haasan and sisters, after their father Sathyaraj is killed by Aamir Khan, Nagarjuna, Soubin Shahir, and gang. The floating plot theory that 'Deva' sets out to recruit his former network to aid him in crushing the villains, stems from the plot of Rebel Moon, where siblings 'Devra' and Darrian Bloodaxe in their fight against the powerful, are aided by Kora, who formerly a soldier with the bad guys, recruits warriors in their fight against the villains.

 

Rebel Moon's trailer also seems to have inspired the Coolie trailer in terms of stylistic elements, visuals, and themes. It is worth noting here that right from Maangaram (2017), which was a hyperlink thriller similar to international movies like Amores Perros, Babel, and Crash, to Vikram (2022) that took imagery inspirations from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Lokesh Kanagaraj isn't a filmmaker shy of adapting film references. 

 

Coolie being connected to Rebel Moon sits at the same table as Kaithi (2019) being compared to Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Master (2021) to South Korean film Silenced (2011), and Leo (2023) to A History of Violence (2005). Interestingly Coolie also has a LED surveillance scene similar to The Dark Knight (2008)'s SONAR system, which was teased both in Coolie's title announcement video, and the Coolie trailer feat. a young Simon (Nagarjuna). 

Post the Coolie trailer, many have also looked at the possibility of Shruthi Haasan playing a 'traitor' character similar to 'Miranda Tate' from The Dark Knight Rises (2012), who manipulates the protagonist keeping her true identity a secret, and leading him to the villain as a plot twist. 

 

3. Electric Chair, Luxury Watches, & Human Trafficking 

Sathyaraj's mystery electric chair, which looks more like a torture chair has turned a lot of heads post the Coolie trailer. While the video showcases the device being used under different settings, the real nature of the chair remains inconclusive. Sathyaraj, who is seen fighting villains in plaid, is also showcased being locked to the chair by Shruthi Haasan, and the father-daughter duo are also showcased testing out the chair in an empty pool. So what the chair really does could be anyone's guess.  

Coolie writer, director Lokesh Kanagaraj has rubbished any sci-fi connection to the chair like time travel, time loop, or time slip. Instead, the filmmaker has said that Coolie's plot revolves around the theme of 'luxury watches'. 

Human trafficking has also been suggested a Coolie theme, since Shruthi Haasan is seen opening one of the containers at the dockyard, and is also moving bodies in plastic wraps to her father Sathyaraj's electric chair godown. The human trafficking is possibly conducted for organ trade, among other things. 

 

4. Monica

Actress Pooja Hegde makes a special song appearance as Monica, and one of the lines from the Monica lyrics go 'Nilava Sevapakum Thanjavoor kari', which means 'A Thanjavur lady who turns the moon red'.

 

 

Trade buzz suggests that this line is significant to the movie Coolie, and since the actual moon has featured prominently on one of the Coolie countdown posters. What the moon suggests, or what significance does the Monica lyric hold can only be explained by Coolie movie. 

 

With less than a week left for Coolie's release, the makers after releasing the Tamil, Telugu, Hindi trailer, have now released the Coolie Kannada trailer. Kannada star Upendra plays a pivotal role in the movie and is seen in both the flashback and current portions. Lokesh Kanagraj has maintained that Coolie is also a 'surprise' movie. One cannot wait to see how the film ends up surprising its eager audience. 

 

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