There is no star in Tamil cinema who has not played a cop. The Superstar Rajinikanth himself is returning to a policeman avatar in his latest Darbar in which he plays a cop after Pandiyan was released 27 years ago. The much anticipated film is likely to see Rajini do the unusual in opting out of his regular anti-establishment and rebel roles as in his last movies — Petta, Kaala and Kabali — to wear uniform.
In his 160-plus films, Rajini has worn khaki only in a handful of movies. His 1982 Monndru Mugam was a blockbuster, but then he has also had a few failures in cop avatars in movies like Kodi Parakkudhu and Pandiyan. It is the AR Murugadoss - Rajini combination that may give an intriguing twist to the usual honest cop standing up to officialdom and politicians to render justice in Darbar.
The very poster of the film Darbar hints at a very robust role for the IPS cop Rajini. The unusual can be expected and not just a throwback to one of his most successful films as a cop in the Tamil hit Moondru Mugam which was shot in Hindi too as John Jani Janardhan.
Of course, Vijayashanthi set the tone for women stars donning khaki to great effect in south cinema with her iconic role in Karthavyam (Hindi) that became Vyjayanti IPS in Tamil. She was considered the gold standard in terms of actors playing cops in the make-believe world, but doing so with a convincing touch that brought them fans.
