The second collaboration between director Pa. Ranjith and superstar Rajni - Kaala, while better than their earlier Kabaali, remains an above average fare. Set in Mumbai's Dharavi, this is a crime drama based on the land rights of the oppressed class. It provides mixed results as the director tunes up his own ideological leanings with a generous garnishing of Rajni's machismo. To his credit, Rajni, the actor delivers in the emotional scenes as much as the superstar in the style quotient.
Strong supporting cast shine like Easwari Rao - a natural and Samuthirakani as a confidante. Nana Patekar tries to be his menacing best in a one note character even as the movie wastes the immensely talented Pankaj Tripathi, Sayaji Shinde and Huma.
While Santhosh Narayanan's BGM is top notch, I would not rate the songs as high as Kabaali, except perhaps, Kannamma which stands out.
I still remember Kabaali as a good movie that could have been great in so many ways; stumbling somewhere in its efforts of trying to bridge the seemingly disparate universes of the Superstar and an auteur with almost a missionary zeal to bring out the voices of the oppressed and marginalised to the mainstream.
In his second iteration, Ranjith is still looking for that fine balance and seeks to find it by amping up the star quotient as well as the ideological heft. Some parts of it click while there are several (in a movie that stretches close to three hours) that don't. At least, not so well on the big screen as the writing would have intended. I wish Ranjith concentrates more on his story arc that made Madras and Attakathi so satisfying.
I sincerely hope that he gets third time lucky and delivers to his and the superstar's immense potentials.
Till then, this should be good enough.
A GOOD WATCH !
RATING - 3/5
