I will start off by stating this. I have tried my best to reveal any kind of spoilers and I may have to leave out parts due to this. Also, I don't consider myself to be an established film critique. The following is just my personal opinions and observations as a Tamil movie enthusiast and also as someone who follows the Kollywood undercurrents closely.

Kaala is a Pa.Ranjith's movie more than a Superstar Rajinikanth's movie.

First off, thanks to Ranjith for not casting any of his usual supporting actors like Kalaiarasan, Riythvika or Attakathi dinesh. Despite their stellar on-screen performances, their presence in Kabaali's crew left a cliqueish feel(in real-life) among the movie watchers and had a negative effect to be honest. It is so fresh to see new faces(atleast new to Ranjith's cast) in the movie. The cast couldn't have been better for this story.

Now coming to the story and screenplay, the movie, as usual, has strong undertones of the director's political idealogies, infact very similar to madras and Kabaali. The downtrodden versus the establishment/power-structure. I will say that the screenplay is very engaging until the last 20 minutes. Rajnikanth's casting can be classified as 'never on screen before'. Unlike most Rajni's movies, screentime is shared among supporting actors(kinda like Madras if I may say so) and all the supporting actors have played their roles to perfection. Special mention to Easwari Rao, Dileepan(Vathikutchi fame!), Samuthirakani and Nana Patekhar. The movie keeps the audience absorbed for the most part. Most of the emotion is conveyed and gets through to the audience(thanks to Santosh Narayan's magical music). Without giving away any spoilers, I was able to understand whatever the director was trying to say until the last 20-30 minutes after which it kind of gets into a grey area. I felt there were unnecessary analogies drawn to Mahabaratham and Ramayanam and to be honest we got restless towards the end. Too much hype and build-up to nothing but oblivion at the end.Imagine waiting for Deepavali all year long then lighting a flower pot on Deepavali and running back to safety to enjoy the fireworks only to find that this particular one is a no-show. That's exactly how I felt towards the end of the movie.

Rajini's acting has been amazing and his portrayal of the character 'Kaala' is impeccable. The other notable aspect of the story is the full-blown, direct and vehement attack on the country's PM and his party. There are no stones left unturned and there is even a dig at an elected representative named H.Jara(!). I'm waiting for the possible political debate this movie is going to stir-up especially due to the current scenario and recent incidents in TN.

The actors have done their part perfectly and put in a one hundred percent. One can't ask for a better music and BGM. Ranjith has definitely amped up his screenplay game compared to Kabaali. The screenplay is beautifully woven for most parts and except for the last few minutes the movie is so engaging. He seems to have lost something towards the end of the movie which I can't put a finger on too. Maybe there is no proper closure ? Also what's with the rebel dancer/rap/hip-hop youngsters in all your movies, Ranjith? This movie may not be a milestone in Rajni's box-office blockbusters but I believe it is definitely going to be a milestone movie in his political career.

It is better to just watch the trailer and then watch the post credits of the movie. Quite honestly, the movie is unwatchable. It seems like the movie is going somewhere, but no, it isn't.

The story is incredibly dumb. The direction was meh. Huma Qureshi was unnecessary in this movie.

Nana Patekar & Rajnikanth acted their parts, but I do say that there were no parts to properly begin with. We can briefly say that Nana Patekar & Rajnikanth just said their dialogues well and acted accordingly. That is it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The whole movie was stretched too long, wasting the time of the audience. There's a brief message in the movie about not disrespecting the people who live in slums, but there's no need of a commercial movie for that. This should've been a documentary, that would've made it a better film.

It doesn't live up to its expectations.

People expect a better film from Rajni Sir.

When Kabali was released i was thrilled with the way of its presentation. But after seeing Kaala and when i retrospect Kabali, the director in some way or the other was trying to glorify the suffering of discrimination and poverty of the past and present.

The story is about a politician trying to acquire the slums , in which the protagonist- Kaala acts as a messiah for the people living in the dwelling, for which the politician would up to any extent in achieving it.

The story may be appealing to the viewers, but as the movie progresses it blatantly glorifies poverty and anarchy. As a result it very much seemed as a tool for the director to support his ideology. I would pity, if Rajnikanth joins and if this is his ideology that he envision to promote, then it would be better for the entrepreneurs to pack their bags from the state. (No puns intended)

The single star which is mandatory to be given is for the enigmatic performance of Nana Patekar as the villain, Hari Dada. The performance was such that it would make viewers forget that Rajnikant was at his opposide end in the head- head scene. Before this performance i used to consider Nana as an over-rated actor but this performance removed all my apprehension regarding him and now i tend to understand why people rate him highly.

The director has announced that his next would be a biopic on the freedom fighter Birsa Munda. If the director is hell bent on glorfying the suffering then it is better to be avioided.