Why Land Forms The Central Conflict Of ‘Kaala’

Awesome! That is the only word that came to my mind when I finished watching the movie “Kaala”. I am not a fan of ‘masala’ entertainers because 99.99% of them are boring and irrelevant. Although this one is no different in its format from other commercial films, it still stands out from we have seen in recent Tamil cinema. The reason why I have taken the effort to post my opinion about this movie is because I believe that most of the movie reviewers have missed the basic crux of the movie. The film is not just about ‘rich-poor divide’ or indifferent politicians, but it challenges the various myths in society surrounding colour, creed, caste and religion. The cinematic approach is similar to Nagraj Manjule’s acclaimed Marathi film “Sairat” which reached cult status in no time, and this film is well on its way to achieving the same feat.

Director P.A Ranjith has very cleverly developed the characters. The names of antagonists like Hari Dada or his henchman Vishnu hints the Hindu deities as oppressive, or the young fellow who was hanged was named as “Bheema” as if the director is hinting that not just Bheema but also the constitution written by him has been hanged.”Black” is a colour which is considered as bad luck in the Indian society and is mostly associated with villains but here the protagonist is named “Kaala” as the director is keen on a role reversal.

Land is a central part of the struggle of the story. I read a review in which a question was raised like this- “Will the problem be solved by just giving the land back to the people?” Of course, it will be solved. When you take someone’s land, you force them to get into a vicious cycle of bonded labour which never ends. This kind of questions arises when you are ridden with a caste-biased mentality which stems from the “Manu rules”. There is an indirect reference to this “Manu” in the form of “Manu Constructions” which is owned by Hari Dada. There are other references like “Dandakaranya” which was once ruled by Ravana in the form of “Dandakaranya Nagar”. The film also reflects on the failure of the communists to address the caste problem of the Indian society like the young son of Kaala, called “Lenin”, looks down upon his own people while still claiming to fight for people’s right. The colours red and blue are extensively used in Dharavi as if indicating that if the proletariat has to win in the 21st century, then these two colours have to merge.

This film smartly and very rightly co-relates land with power. This is a contemporary issue in Mumbai wherein various Koliwada’s, and slums are at the mercy of such Hari Dadas and Vishnus. The promises which they make in the name of development are never fulfilled. Take the example of textile mills in Mumbai which had 600 acres but once this land was opened up, livelihoods of thousands of mill workers were destroyed forever. This film raises some relevant socio-economic and political questions. Only people like P.A Ranjith can make a film like this and not the so-called upper caste geniuses because it is about the assertion of the suppressed identity which more often than not receives a passing or pompous sympathetic mention in an upper-caste director’s films. I just hope this film becomes the biggest success of Tamil cinema’s history because we need more films like these desperately!