Thursday was a day of great joy for fans of Rajinikanth, as the Superstar’s son-in-law and producer Dhanush, revealed the title and the first look images of Superstar’s next film after 2.0, Kaala: Karikaalan, which is to be directed by Pa Ranjith.
Two images were released, and while one had a bleeding, furious-looking Rajini that didn’t give away too much, the other, with the star on a jeep, gave the curious a lot more to chew on.
It’s now clear that the film will be set in the backdrop of Mumbai--the first look has shots of one of the largest slums in the world, Dharavi.
The word Kaala, in Sanskrit, has two meanings: black, symbolising that the story is about ‘dark’ and downtrodden people (keeping in tune with Ranjith’s usual narratives), and, secondly, death and destruction, a metaphor that denotes what will happen to those who stand against him. This could also explain the all-black attire worn by Rajini—kurta, shades, sandals and watch. Plus of course, the jeep itself, which is also black. The two images suggest that that this will likely be the look that Rajinikanth will sport throughout the film.
Kaala is also indicative of the deity Kaala Bhairava, who is the supreme ruler of the time of this universe as per Hindu scriptures. Kala Bhairava’s vahana is the dog and of course, as you probably spotted, a mongrel is shown sitting right next to Rajini in the image. You may want to note that this is also the second time a dog features in a poster of a Rajini film—the last time this happened was in Baashaa’s poster which is also about a Tamil don in Mumbai.
The deity is also considered to be the protector, giving more weight to the claim that he’ll guard the destitute Tamils in Mumbai. The god is also known as the guardian of women; so don’t be surprised if that’s incorporated in the film as well. We may be over-reaching a bit here, but the deity is said to be clad in a tiger skin and perhaps, that explains the similarly coloured kaavi (orange) veshti.
The tagline, Karikaalan, which is likely Rajini’s name in the film, also denotes the ‘dark’ factor. It’s also reminiscent of the great Chola king, Karikaala Cholan, which among other regions in the State, also ruled Tirunelveli.
Interestingly, Tirunelveli is the origin of most of the Tamil speaking inhabitants of Dharavi. The fish-eye panorama shot of the image could also represent the Tamilians being a part of the fishing community. After all, Dharavi was once a swamp and a fishing village. This becomes more plausible considering Tirunelveli’s history with fishing.
Let’s dig a bit more into the image. The jeep’s number plate reads MH 01 BR 1956. While MH denotes the Maharashtra registration, the fascinating detailing that has Pa Ranjith’s stamp all over it, is in the latter half of that number plate.
The letters BR are the initials of social reformer Ambedkar (Bhimrao Ramji), who the director looks up to—his Twitter handle (@beemji) stands testimony to his admiration for the man who played a pivotal role in the fight against social discrimination of dalits. MH could also stand as a tribute to Mhow cantonment in Indore, which happens to be Ambedkar’s place of birth. The numbers that follow, 1956, is the year in which Ambedkar died. The rising sun behind Rajini’s head might symbolise him being the ‘ray of hope’ to his people.
It isn’t every day that a first look of a film allows for so much analysis, and gives such a treasure-trove of information about the film. But then again, Kaala isn’t like every film.