Politics that Kaala speaks – A detailed analysis | Superstar Rajinikanth | Pa. Ranjith

Amidst all the controversies about Rajinikanth, Superstar turning politician and Ranjith\’s societal upliftment speeches, Kaala releases today worldwide and the movie, unsurprisingly, has spoken in detail and also, touched upon a lot of politics that is not spoken about much in the mainstream.

The main plot of the movie is \”land politics\” and how downtrodden and poor and even, middle class families are played by the ones with power for their own benefits. Mostly in Tamil cinema, land politics or real estate politics has been used as a scene to convey the villain\’s evil mind but, Kaala stands out by showing the actual face of land politics and the toll urbanisation takes on the oppresed people.

The very first scene of the movie shows the realty developers trying to demolish the \”Dhobhi Ghat\”, where the predominant residents do their washermen job. This is the real and uncovered face of urbanisation and these events have happened and happening everywhere. Even in Saidapet, when Slum clearance board (Kudisai maatru vaariyam), the traditionally washermen residing across the banks of adyar river were allocated houses in Thoraipakkam and Semmancheri, their livelihood was largely affected and even their lifestyle due to lack of a water source for washing. The poor got better houses yet, lost their livelihood. THIS is the real land politics and \”Nilam engal adhigaaram\” (Our land our right), Kaala talks about.

Amidst doubts if the Nana Patekar\’s character is based on someone who talks about Clean India and portrays himself as patriot, the movie speaks about another face of land politics and urbanisation, which actually doesn\’t care about the downtrodden\’s benefits but, to make the city a beautiful one by constructing high towers and golf courses etc. A character in the movie rightly asks the realty developer, why should there be a golf course in their new Dharavi, when a football ground and cricket stadium is what they play and hints and later expresses that the real face behind all that \”I want to make this country clean\” taglines by the villain is actually the longlasting cruel intentions about working-class people, who look dirty. The villain even says this is dirt/kaala is irritating him. That is the politics Ranjith exposes with Superstar Rajinikanth as the tool.

Also, there are many other subtle issues Kaala touches upon like portrayal and glorification of women modesty, which is actually a heavy chain tied to their legs. Women are potrayed as the \”Weak\” gender traditionally in Indian cinema and as those waiting for their knight in shining armor to save them and even the light damage to their modesty, will lead them to take their own lives. But, Kaala isn\’t one another movie. Anjali Patil\’s character in the movie at a point, is forced by policemen and she is made half naked and they laugh at her. Now, she has two choices nearby, to take her pants and save the \”modesty\” or a laththi. She chooses laththi, as if saying, when Salman Khan to Rajinikanth, can tear their shirts and show their half naked bodies to fight villains, a girl can do what is right and what is the necessity. Hats off to the boldness of the writer and also, the artist who plays the role convincingly.

Tamilnadu has been a progressive state in independent India right from Periyar\’s days to date and the state has been predominantly ruled by parties whose ideologies are derived from Periyar\’s samathuvam or equality and pagutharivu or Rational thinking. But, still, the glorification culture and \”falling-on-feet\” culture is on the rise and it is considered as the most respectful gesture. This simple \”Falling-on-feet\” has huge psychological impact by keeping few at high pedestal and few, always down. Kaala questions this by saying to Nana\’s granddaughter to just say namaste and Huma qureshi openly says, start shaking hands, which is the right gesture. 

Ranjith in a recent interview mentions about Parasakthi as his favorite film and \”Kovilgal koodathenbatharkaaga alla, kovil kodiyavargalin koodaram aagi vida koodathenbathukaga\” as his favorite dialogue. The dialogue roughly transalates too, \”Yes I caused ruckus in Temple. Not because, I was against temples but, temples becoming criminals\’s stay\”. Almost similar dialogue and juxtaposition is seen in Kaala, where Rajinikanth, a deeply religious man in real life, utters if your God supports this land-grabbing and oppression, I won\’t leave even that God. That is a an indirect dialogue about religious thoughts, be whatever religion, keeping few set of people oppressed for others. 

Also, Ranjith always speaks about the caste inequality and the injustice over few people for centuries in his movies. Even here the villain\’s realty company is called \”Manu realtors\”, a subtle attack for Manu Smrithi, which is the ancient text which speaks about castes and their order in society.
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Also, there is a reference to the controversial topic currently. The presence of \”fringe elements\” in people\’s protests. After his Tuticorin visit, Rajinikanth spoke about this in press conference and was attaked by many for the same. Kaala shows a side of this fringe elements, where the villain sends his goondas to mingle with people and start a religious riot, which is thwarted by Kaala himself. If someone watches closely the people\’s protests, even the famous Jallikattu protest, the last day of the protest was filled with miscreants and personally, I witnessed rowdies with stones at hand pelted over harmless riders on road shouting about Jallikattu. They weren\’t part of the actual protest but, was staged by parties or some higher powers to destroy people\’s right voices. One may deny this owing to the fact Rajinikanth has never said if he is right or left wing and his tweets seems to be balancing him towards the right-wing ruling party, but, the fact is clear, the last days of people protests, Jallikattu/Tuticorin were made to be the last day because someone above decided enough is enough. Kaala shows that and in a ironical way, justifies what Rajini said in press meet days later the movie was shot. 

We also have many other symbolic references in the movie like the hero wearing only black, blue and red which are colors of protest, ambedkar and revolution respectively, another perspective of Ramayana from Raavan as the symbol of oppressed by someone with power and even, a subtle nudge towards controversial Tamil politician by making H. Jara as the Chennai mayor who tries out same land grabbing idea in Chennai. 

Overall, Kaala has a lot of plot points to discuss and we laud the efforts Ranjith has put to make an engrossing and yet thought-provoking movie with a supertalented cast and crew with the demi-god Superstar Rajinikanth as the lead. 

Kattravai! Pattravai!