Web Series Review: Kaala

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

September 15, 2023 - 2:55 PM IST

KAALA is the story of an honest officer fighting against black money. On October 21, 1988, a group of soldiers are killed in a surprise attack near the India-Bangladesh border. Shubhendu Mukherjee (Rohan Vinod Mehra) survives. But he’s declared as a traitor. He escapes and decides to continue the fight against the enemies of the country. 30 years pass. He has assumed the new identity of Adinath Bagchi. He has a family of his own, comprising daughter Aloka (Elisha Mayor) and handicapped wife Madhu (Madhyama Segal). He is also an informer to his son, an IB officer, Ritwik Mukherjee (Avinash Tiwary), without revealing his identity. Through Shubhendu’s information, Ritwik starts investigating Naman Arya (Taher Shabbir). He is known as a waste king for his stellar work in the recycling of waste products. Ritwik finds out that Naman is into ‘reverse hawala’. In a rare instance, Naman converts black money into white and is all set to send a huge consignment of cash out of India. Through Shubhendu, he is able to nab cash worth Rs. 150 crores. Naman is arrested but the charges against him are not concrete enough. As a result, he secures bail. The chief minister of West Bengal (Mita Vashisht) promises help to Ritwik and his senior, Himanshu (Danish Aslam), but later goes back on her word. Amid all this, someone poisons Shubhendu and he dies. When Shubhendu doesn’t contact Ritwik for a couple of days, the latter realizes that the former is dead. Ritwik is able to locate Shubhendu’s residence in Darjeeling and that’s when he realizes that he’s none other than his father. Ritwik, however, has grown up thinking of him as a traitor. Hence, he’s stunned not just to know that he was his informer but also that his father lived happily with his family while he and his mother Paromita (Sreelekha Mitra) had to suffer extensively. What happens next forms the rest of the series.

Web Series Review: Kaala

Bejoy Nambiar, Francis Thomas, Pryas Gupta, Mithila Hegde and Shubhra Swarup's story is quite interesting as well as intriguing. Bejoy Nambiar, Francis Thomas, Pryas Gupta, Mithila Hegde and Shubhra Swarup's screenplay is effective. But until the writers put out the whole back story, it takes a while to understand what is happening and why certain characters are given such prominence. Karan Vishwanath Kashyap's dialogues are normal, sans any punchy one-liners.

Bejoy Nambiar’s direction is quite good. Since his debut venture SHAITAN [2011], he has proved that he’s a pro when it comes to the technicalities. He uses this plus point ably in KAALA. The storytelling is creative in a lot of places. One memorable shot in the show is the lovemaking sequence between the lesbian characters. The way the camera moves in a circular motion adds to the effect. In the last few episodes, his direction is very gripping as a lot of nail-biting stuff unfolds.

On the flipside, the initial few episodes are not exciting. The show starts abruptly. One never understands how Ritwik got caught and how his colleague died. Without a visual depiction of this important part, it gives an incomplete feeling to the viewer. Secondly, certain characters are given a lot of importance and one wonders why. It takes a while to realize the reason behind it. Once he ties up the loose ends and answers the unanswered queries, one gets impressed by the narrative. But until that happens, viewers might get restless.

Speaking of performances, Avinash Tiwary handles the lead part with panache. His character is authoritative, and this aspect comes out perfectly. Rohan Vinod Mehra rocks the show in a limited but very crucial role. Nivetha Pethuraj (Sitara) and Elisha Mayor leave a mark. Jitin Gulati (Balwant Bir Rana) is the surprise of the show. This isn’t an easy character, but he comes out with flying colours. Taher Shabbir makes an impact. Anil Charanjeett (Danish Khan; CBI officer) and Hiten Tejwani (Bismil) are dependable. Danish Aslam and Vinil Mathew (Shirish Jose), who are actually directors, deliver entertaining performances.

Saurrabh Kushwaha (Hussain; Balwant’s love interest) is lovely. Mita Vashisht goes a bit overboard with her accent. Otherwise, her performance is strong. Shakti Kapoor (Ghulam Saab) is too good, despite not having a single dialogue. Saurabh Sachdeva (Colonel Himmat) is decent in a cameo-like appearance. His old look is flawless. Madhyama Segal gives a convincing performance as a wheelchair-bound person. Tanika Basu (Lobo) and Marie (Anangsha Biswas) are apt for their parts. Mini Mathur and Shruti Seth get no scope. Trishaan (Shashwat Roy), Sreelekha Mitra and the actors playing Arvind Rao, Pradeep Sharma and Varsha are passable.

The music is quite novel, as it usually happens in a Bejoy Nambiar venture. All tracks play in the background and enhance the impact. Gaurav Godkhindi's background score is in sync with the happenings on screen.

Siddharth Srinivasan's cinematography is neat. Aparna Raina's production design is a bit unrealistic, especially in the tunnel portions. But overall, it works. Gopika Gulwadi's costumes are straight out of life. Riyaz and Habib's action is nothing special. Splinter Cell Studios, Digibricks Entertainment and Visual Birds Studio's VFX is alright. Priyank Prem Kumar's editing is sharp and smart in places.

On the whole, KAALA is a gripping saga and it works due to the performances, direction, top-class work by the technical team and the impact generated by the last few episodes.

Rating: 3 stars