Last week, a movie premiered in Philippine cinemas that went completely under the radar. It didn't show up in the usual places for movie schedules (such as Clickthecity), even up to now. No one in the local film news community has discussed it. Even when I went to the cinema where it was showing, it was conspicuously absent from that day's schedule. But this isn't some small indie movie shown in an arthouse venue or a niche theatre. This is Kaala, one of the year's most anticipated Indian films, and for the past few days it has enjoyed modest pop-up screenings in large mall cinemas such as SM Southmall.
Here in the Philippines, Indian film distribution is tailored towards the large and growing Indian expat population living in the country. Indians love movies, perhaps more than any other film culture in the world, and as nice as foreign productions can get, there's nothing quite like something from home. These screenings are organized by small businesses and fellow members of the community and movie schedules and information are disseminated within these communities, often through social media - so to know the schedule of these films, one has to know someone from these communities. Often, large scale or highly anticipated movies are screened - in the past year or so, films such as Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) and Padmavaat (2018), among others, have been screened here.
In this case, the movie in question is the latest film from Superstar Rajinikanth, Kaala. To readers who have no idea who Rajinikanth is, the man is a legend in South Indian cinema. He has appeared in more than a hundred films. He is probably best known outside India for his role in Enthiran (a.k.a. Robot; 2010), a science fiction film that also starred Aishwarya Rai. His movies typically enjoy packed, often sold out screenings in South India, and his contemporary film roles are often (but not always) (super)heroic, larger-than-life working class men who fight for the oppressed and downtrodden. Kaala is his second collaboration with director P.A. Ranjith, after the huge success of 2016's Kabali, a darker than usual Rajinikanth film where he plays an old gangster.
Kaala shares some similarities with Kabali in plot structure, but is overall a completely different film: in Kaala, the titular character is an old gangster who serves as the de facto king of the Dharavi slums in Mumbai. Dharavi is the largest slum area in the world, and was featured prominently in such films as Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008.) Kaala helps the local populace live their lives with dignity as the government is either unhelpful or indifferent. Kaala, with the help of his extended family, soon gets into a fight with local politician Haridev Abhayankar (Nana Patekar), as the latter seeks to redevelop Dharanvi, but on his terms (and to the detriment of the people). The appearance of an old flame, Zareena (Huma Qureshi) seeks to complicate things even further.
What follows is an interesting take on the South Indian action thriller that quickly evolves during the second half into something overtly political. While there are enough wacky action setpieces to satiate fans' wishes (of note is the pre-interval sequence where Kaala fights off a number of people armed only with an umbrella), the action takes a backseat to the film's political message - that of land ownership, increasing class divides, the rights of the urban poor, and the value of community organizing. This is nothing new, as Rajinikanth has often discussed political issues in his films before, such as when his 2007 film Sivaji The Boss talked about black money. At one point in this film, a character introduces himself using Rajinikanth's real life name and talks about helping the poor help themselves, and I couldn't help but wonder if this was Rajinikanth himself speaking through the character or something else entirely. Many of Rajinikanth's films use his extremely expansive reach and influence to try to initiate societal change, and at the very least that's something worth celebrating.
The film is relatively serious and does not have much of a comedic streak, save for a couple of moments where Rajinikanth himself does the heavy comedic lifting. It also takes a while to get going, spending most of its first half developing the world and the characters before getting into serious dramatic territory during the last stretch. The heavily rap and hip hop-flavored soundtrack can be quite catchy, especially the title theme song.
Color plays an important role in the film, and serves as Kaala's most important visual motif. It contrasts Kaala's black with Hari's white, making a point that those who are perceived as bad aren't always so, and those who are perceived as good and pure may often be worse. It is in the actions of people that true character can be discerned, not through outside appearances.
By the end of the film, the message and the persona become more than the man himself, culminating in a spectacular sequence of light, color, music and dance that is artfully abstract and open to interpretation. While it does feel a bit abrupt, leaving several plot threads hanging or simply cut, it is, at the very least, fascinating.
What elevates the experience of watching Kaala for me the most is watching it with a receptive Indian audience. I've watched Indian films mostly by myself through streaming services, DVDs from who knows where or through Youtube, so it was nice to watch a film like this with an audience that knows what they're watching. I may have been the only Filipino in the whole theater, but I was cheering along with the crowd whenever Rajinikanth had a cool fight scene (there aren't a lot, but Rajinikanth isn't getting any younger) and I cheered whenever he said something awesome (which is often.) That experience in itself is worth the price of admission.
Ultimately Kaala may not be Rajinikanth's best film, but it's a treat for fans, and is almost worth watching for that ending scene alone.
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