Director: Pa.Ranjith
Rating: ***
Each time a Rajinikanth film releases, it's a festival for his fans and 'Kaala Karikalan' is no different. It was the same when Rajinikanth came with his new offering, 'Kaala Karikaalan'.
The film 'Kaala Karikaalan' is set in Dharavi - Asia's largest slum in Mumbai, where slum dwellers are living their life while struggling with their many problems.
Haridada (Nana Patekar), a goon who has been elevated to the post of a Union Minister, along with his cronies is hell-bent on usurping Dharavi. With the help of his supporter Vishubhai (Sampath Raj), he tries to evacuate the people from there. How, Karikaalan (Rajinikanth) aka Kaala, a migrant from Tirunelveli, becomes a spike in Haridada's plans, forms the crux of the tale.
How Kaala fights with Haridada and how far he goes to save his land is very interesting to watch.
Zarina (Huma Qureshi), is an NGO worker who wants to uplift the life of these slum dwellers and helps Kaala in his fight against Haridada.
The narrative of the film is not very much impressive but still keeps you hooked. The film has few moments where you feel connected due to story's approach which is very basic.
The production value is undoubtedly very high but certainly misses the wow factor.
Action sequences are definitely at par and match Rajinikanth's stature but his age has mellowed him. The age factor is limited to his action scenes only otherwise he has done a great job.
Easwari Rao as Kaala's wife Selvi, Anjali Patil as Charumati aka Toofani as an aggressive resident of the area and the girlfriend of Kaala's son Lenin, have done justice to their characters.
Music director Santhosh Narayanan has composed some great tunes for the film which compliments the story. The background score of the film also meshes well with the narrative.
Director Pa Ranjith has certainly focussed on the overall development of the story. The director has beautifully handled some intense scenes. The face-off scene between Kaala and Haridada has been shot beautifully.
Overall it's a good gangster drama film which shows some hard facts of slum life and slum development and compels you to think about the problems faced by slum dwellers.
