Movie Review: Kaala - mishmash of mass appeal and social themes

The onus was on the movie’s crew whether the film would live up to the hype and expectations that were built around it. The film is Rajini’s second consecutive collaboration with Pa Ranjith after Kabali, which earned mixed reviews. 

The new film opens with Kaala, an aging don enjoying a game of cricket with kids in his neighbourhood while Beemji (Kanna) comes running to Kaala as local politicians along with the police arrive to demolish their houses for their ‘Pure and Clean Mumbai Project’ (a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachch Bharat campaign?). 

The project is the brainchild of politician Haridev Abhayankar (Nana Patekar). Kaala rushes to the spot and takes up for the downtrodden and sorts out the issue. The story then transports us back to Kaala’s family, where he bonds with his wife Selvi (Eswari Rao) and his sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. 

Later, Huma Qureshi, who plays Kaala’s girlfriend Zarina, before his wedding to Selvi, comes to Dharavi as part of an NGO. They recall their romance, a re-visitation of the dalliance between Kabali and Kumudhavalli in his previous film.  

Despite a slow start because of the flashback, before the pre-interval segment involving a face-off between Kaala and Hari Dada, is a dramatic one, and might go down in history as one of the most iconic pre-interval shots in a Rajini film. 

The second half slows down again but turns gripping towards the climax, despite glaring loopholes. After Kabali, the only consolation here is that the teaser, unlike the former, wasn’t misleading. Kaala will provide the audience and Superstar’s fans his power-packed action avatar. 

However, it is sad to see that Rajini, demigod to millions, has been under-utilised in this film. His superstardom has been well exploited (by Ranjith’s own admission) to conveying his ideas through one of India’s biggest stars. 

However, the director has failed to make use of Rajinikanth as an actor as the film’s focus shifts more towards protests and riots. 

The film gets a tad boring and gives one a feel of watching a documentary. But then, Rajinikanth, with his swag now and then rescues the film. 

A fight sequence set against the backdrop of the rain and his face-off with Nana Patekar are moments, tailor-made for Rajini fans and will be etched in their memories. Much to their delight, the actor banters easily in Tamil, Hindi and Marathi. Though the film doesn’t involve Kaala’s character into politics, there are politically charged dialogues in the film. 

Eswari Rao, Anjali Patil, Huma Qureshi and Samuthirakani deserve applause for brilliant performances. Nana Patekar plays the perfect villain and a thorough foil to Rajinikanth’s flamboyant messiah. 

Santhosh Narayanan’s background score has added to Rajini’s mass appeal and has done a world of good to the film. The art director Ramalingam has done a decent job in replicating Dharavi slums at Poonamalee’s EVP Studios, and Murali’s visuals have supported it well. Overall, for all the resources at its disposal, Kaala could have done better.