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2016’s Kabali was a confused mix between Pa Ranjith’s beef Biryani and Rajinikanth’s Masala Bhaath. But with Kaala, the transition is seamless. Ranjith has written Rajini’s character brilliantly.
After Padayappa, there haven’t been any punch dialogues worth remembering. Kaala changes that, while pandering to Pa Ranjith’s overtly pro-Dalit ideology.
Nana Patekar gets down from his white land rover in white and white. He looks around at Dharavi and its people and is unable to hide his disgust. He conveys this with barely a twitch in his eye. The scene ends with a hugely embarrassed Nana walking back after seeking permission from Kaala, who says, ‘NIKAL!’
There isn’t a single wrong note in the film until the interval that comes at 1.5hours. The punch dialogues are there. The fights are surprisingly convincing for a Ranjith film (usually not his forte), and the long lost love between Zareena (Huma) and Kaala is palpable.
If not for Rajinikanth’s foot-in-the-mouth regarding the Sterlite protests (if we protest for everything, TN will become a crematorium, he said), the answer would have been a resounding YES. The plot was a blueprint for how to - Organise. Educate. Agitate.
No character in the film was expendable. As in, in the absence of even one of the characters, the plot would stall. By the end of it all, I wanted to be the son who was fed by ‘Selvi Amma’, the ‘Mama’ who stood by Kaala at all times, one among the crowd who stared you down as Kaala walked into the frame behind me.
Kaala resurrects in a riot of colour in the end. I do hope Rajinikanth’s tattered rep meets the same fate. I’d give the film 4 stars out of 5. If not for the forgettable music, it would have been a film for the ages.
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