Cast: Rajinikanth, Nayanthara, Nivedita Thomas, and Suniel Shetty

Directed By: AR Murugadoss

So a new year begins with a Rajini film and it releases amidst of Pongal festival. But a Rajini film is itself a festival and A R Murugadoss who is a self-proclaimed Rajin fan tries to encash it with Darbar. 

In this process somewhere Murugadoss didn't concentrate on the script. If Rajini's film is political or message-driven Thomas. 

The first half of the film is entertaining with Rajini swag and comic timing. Second-half tries too hard to engage you n then it will be a sure shot flop and it is always good to play safe by placing Thalaivar in a simple plot. But Darbar turned out to be a mediocre film. 

The story is set in Mumbai, bad cop Aaditya Arunasalam (Rajinikanth) has become insane and kills each and every goons and rowdy in the state. But there is a reason behind this which is revealed through his past where he used to stay with her daughter Valli (Niveditawith the half-baked screenplay where logic and reasoning takes a back seat. 

The weakest thing in the film is it doesn't have a strong villain. Suniel Shetty is completely wasted, the actor doesn't have a strong back strong of him being the villain. This is mentioned because A R Murugadoss has written some of the strong villain characters such as in Sarkar and Spyder. 

The scene, where Rajini is shown working out, is unnecessary and gimmicky. One stand out scene in the film where a character reminds Rajini about his age which is rare in a Rajinikanth film. 

Darbar which is promoted as a cop film is actually a story of a relationship between father and daughter. 

Rajinikanth's performance is as usual fun to watch. The actor can light up even a weak scene or a dialogue that doesn't have any punch. It's been 40 years that Superstar is entertaining us and is screen presence is till date unmatchable.

Nayanthara is completely wasted in the film. Yogi Babu has more scenes than Nayans. Nivedita Thomas has given a fresh and honest performance and she shines in some of the crucial scenes. 

Cinematographer Santosh Sivan seems to have had a ball of a time. The use of colors and lens flares light up each frame and makes the entire film look classy. Composer Anirudh Ravichander’s songs are a failure of epic proportions. None of the songs except for Chumma Kizhi (the choreography of the song is out of place) works well on screen. The background score elevates the mood of the film, thanks to Deva’s epic score which is rehashed interestingly. 

Overall, Darbar is a mediocre one-time watch film that doesn't have anything new to offer except Rajini's gym workout session.