Review of Kaala (2018) by Lavin N — 24 Jun 2018

Kaala Review:

One can be a Hindu, Muslim or Christian but he or she couldn't have missed & would have heard the echoing of Ramayana somewhere or somehow along his or her life. An epic tale of a Tamil Demon King Ravana who goes against God due to greed, lust & the love of terror. Least this is what we were made to believe for centuries by the Aryans. They tweaked Ramayana to suit their benefit to oppress & suppress Tamils @ Dravidians who are from the lineage of Ravana.

Kaala the film unboxed a different shade of Ramayana & Ravana "the so called Demon King". It reveals the humility, caring nature, selflessness, honesty & monumental god like courage of Ravana & how he was assured a place next to god upon his death.

Ranjith beautifully shifted Ramayana 360° with the greatest tool called Rajinikanth. Crafting him as Ravan @ Kaala was the best move to unveil Tamil Nadu & Tamilans situation in the last 15years. We get to see the larger than life Rajinikanth in a very crafty, steezy & grounded rendering which is brilliantly engaging all the way. From a romantic lover, to a loyal husband, to a father, grandfather, humorist, outlaw & great leader, Rajinikanth nails it deeper than you can imagine. Without a doubt, he is the heart & soul of Kaala. A special mention is a must for both Eswari Rao & Nana Patekar. They glazed every single scene with total perfection which sinked us deep into their thoughts & action throughout.

I have to say, Rajini's action sequences with the flair of Santosh Narayanan's BGM, clearly sets the screen on flames & proves why Super Star is the greatest stylish mass star Indian cinema is gifted with. This man despite 69 years old, schools A-listers half his age on how to shift gears & go from 70kph to Mach5 instantly. I must say again, that Santosh Narayanan didn't just create scores but he narrated every crucial scene with his dark & mellifluous BGM.

Having said all that, I felt Ranjith could have tighten the screenplay a little more & made it a little more brisk plus intense, especially when Kaala & Hari Dhadha faces off. A contentful script like Kaala has alot of space for a far more elevated screenplay but it's not a big deal cause a films heart beat is the plot & it was extremely systematic & binded the entire film well. Also felt the opening-intro scene could have been more deeper & solid for such a powerful plot. For example:- (A 12yr old boy enlightening some younger kids about Karikalan's goals for their future, studies, land plus livelihood in Dharavi & how young Karikalan, his father & Valiyappan went against Hari Dada decades back (a quick montage cartoon). Now, while the 12year old boy talks about how powerful Kaala & Hari Dada's confrontation was then, another random boy runs towards Kaala's house from the protest site to complain & alert him about the problem between Sampath & the public's laundry protest. Screen zooms to Rajini's men getting into the Jeep while another shot of Kaala's grand kids studying in the living area & one of them colours King Ravana "black" in a kids Ramayana colouring book. Camera angle takes this deep raw shot from the eye view point of Rajini-Kaala. At this very moment, camera shoots Kaala's hand gripping his chair firm & he gets up putting on his black shirt & slow mo of him walking out of his house putting on his shades, gets in to the Jeep & heads to the protest site with a fiery BGM. At the protest location, intense dialogues erupt, only to ignite Kaala's anger, leading to a briefly fearful action.) Mind blowing is what it would have been but we got a more subtle, ebullient & grey-haired opening-intro scene which again is alright.

Now as an icing on the cake, Murali definitely decorated the film with sensational cinematography. From the vivid low & top view shots to the exuberant perspective of Dharavi, all were phenomenally showcased with 100% sincerity. On the whole, this Rajinikanth flick is a clear winner with just a little behind a 10 yard touchdown!

8/10.