Kaala is a film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith. I was quite reluctant to watch the film given the mixed word of mouth. But after seeing it last night, all my doubts were put to ease.
Plot: When Haridev Abhiyankar decides to seize the land of Dharavi from its residents, it's Kaala who decides to stand up against him.
Story and direction: Being a die-hard fan of Rajinikanth I decided to give the film a shot. To be fair, I found the film quite decent. Let's get on with the positives. The spirit of Dharavi is effectively captured. In each and every minute of the film I felt that I was living in the area and felt the pain and difficulties these people were facing. The cinematography by Murali is awesome. The characters were very interesting and I liked the way the hero and the villain are diametrically opposite to each other and have different ideologies of what their aim in life is. I felt that the second half was where the film actually got the grip and it started to get interesting. Now for the things I didn't like so much. The first half of the film didn't impress me that much especially the so-called romantic angle between Kaala and Zareena. That could have totally been avoided. Instead they could have focussed on developing characters like Inspector Patil or Charumathi. I don't know what attraction the makers have to the rains. I know that it adds quite an effect to the scenery, but the first half has quite a loty of raining going on. Also, there were some scenes that felt were stepping outside the purview of reality (especially the action scenes and the climax).
Performances: Rajinikanth delivers a great performance. His character is a bit grounded than his previous ventures (although at times we see come fully in his SUPER STAR status). Nana Patekar was brilliant as the villain. He is not the typical villain. He is cold and calculative. Eswari rao was good as Kaala's Wife. I liked the way Samuthirakani's was more than just a comic relief. Huma Qureshi was OK. Dileepan and Manikandan were effective as Kaala's sons. I did feel that more screen space for Anjali Patil and Pankaj Tripathi would have been beneficial to the film.
Music: The music of the film felt like the heavy baggage that one holds which just tires you after a time. None of the songs were good and it felt more like a marketing strategy. The BGM however was great and it got an adrenaline rush in me.
Favorite Scene: It would be the scene where Hari and Kaala meet at Hari's home. Here they talk about their different ideologies and how opposite they are in their inner and outer appearances. And who wouldn't love to see two iconic actors in one scene.
Verdict: With some slight tweaking and a reduced runtime, KAALA would have worked better. Anyway, the film for me was quite decent and satisfied the Rajini fan in me.
I am going with a 7.5/10.
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