Kaala - Movie Review

Ever since Rajinikanth reached the heights of superstardom, his movies have always been extravagant, larger than life and a display of his charismatic style. But, no matter how well his last few movies fared at the box-office, I was largely disappointed by almost all his movies since the 2010 release, Robot/Enthiran. But, he seems to have redeemed himself to a certain extent with his latest outing, Kaala. With an ensemble cast comprising of Nana Patekar, Easwari Rao and Huma Qureshi, director Pa Ranjith’s ‘Kaala’ is a decent attempt at glorifying the phenomenon called Rajinikanth, without portraying him to be invincible.

Karikaalan AKA Kaala (Rajinikanth) is a people’s messiah and the uncrowned king of Dharavi, the largest slum-dwelling in Mumbai. Kaala is a migrant from Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu and fights for the land and rights of his fellow migrants, when an extremely powerful politician, Hari dada (played by Nana Patekar), tries to grab these 100s of acres of prime land in the heart of the Maximum city. But his ambition is no cake walk as long as Kaala stands guard to Dharavi, along with his loud wife, Selvi (played by Easwari Rao) and his three children – each seem to represent a section of the society – one is an activist, one is a working-class commoner and the third one is a violent extremist. Supporting his fight against the mighty and powerful, is a renowned social activist and Kaala’s former fiancé, Zareena (played by Huma Quereshi). Predictably, he mobilizes a people’s movement against the wrongful redevelopment of slums in Dharavi.

With Rajinikanth making a foray into politics, Kaala seems to have been made with an ulterior motive of appeasing the crowds. There are plenty of mass-appealing and whistle-worthy monologues by Rajini about the atrocities being committed on the poor. At certain places, it starts looking like a launch pad for his political career and party. There are some sequences where the movie feels unconvincing, such as a plot involving police conniving with the baddies, to arrest and later plot to kill Kaala. But, there are some places where Kaala is not shown as a demigod – he is vulnerable and not exactly a one-man-army, something we are not used to seeing often. I also particularly liked the parallels drawn between the narrative and Ramayana, with Kaala being equated to an intelligent, ten-headed, Ravana. Also, Kaala warns Hari dada to be wary of the rainbow-like colorful people of Dharavi, which the director metaphorically refers to the various colors in a Holi-like sequence, making it an aesthetically well shot climax.

Among the actors, Easwari Rao is impressive as Kaala’s devoted, loud-mouthed wife, Selvi. She has a tangy slang, mixed with subtle humor and an extremely expressive face. She also shares a warm chemistry with Kaala, played by Rajinikanth. Nana Patekar exudes the vibes of Amitabh Bachchan from Sarkar Raj, and his character seems to be influenced by the same late Maharashtrian stalwart. Among the other cast, Manikandan as Lenin, Anjali Patil as Puyal (lovely to see her after being wonderful in Newton), Huma Qureshi as Zareena and Samuthikaran as Vaaliyappan leave an impact with their supporting roles. But, in the end, it is an out-and-out Rajinikanth movie. And he is in great form with his salt-and-pepper look, playing his age and radiating the trademark Rajini style. The cult of Rajinikanth is on full display in a sequence on Marine Lines flyover, shot extremely well in the shades of black (#Kaala). He is also witty and authoritative, in the face-off with Hari dada at a Police Station.  It was refreshing to see the director not getting seduced by the urge to exalt Rajini alone, but create a strong supporting cast around him.

A special mention to the camera-work by Murali G, who uses sweeping shots, close ups of feet of the villains, shaky wide angles and the beautifully gloomy shades of black and grey. After a lackluster Kabali, Pa Ranjith delivers a long, slightly unmoving, but a rather decently made ‘Kaala’.

Despite its flaws, length and a predictable story-line, Kaala is a good one-time watch, especially after a series of rather insipid movies from Rajini in the last few years.

My Rating -2.5/5