Why Nana Patekar as Hari dada makes Rajinikanth's Kaala look so good
You do not understand the success formula of a Rajinikanth film if you think it rides only on the superstar. Invariably, Rajini films that have gone on to do exceedingly well at the box-office have been those with powerful antagonists. Be it Antony in Baasha, Neelambari in Padayappa or even Adiseshan in Sivaji, the negative is as much of a powerful DNA as the protagonist.
Which is why how Kaala fares depended as much on Nana Patekar's portrayal of Haridev Abhyankar, the smooth-talking Machiavellian politician as it did on Rajini as Karikaalan. And director Pa Ranjith helps Hari dada's cause in his first confrontation scene with Karikaalan by letting him say the one word that was Rajinikanth's signature in Kabali - "Magizhchi" which means happiness. By giving Patekar a line hitherto used with success by the hero in an earlier film, Ranjith attempts to elevate his bad man so that the Karikaalan vs Hari Dada face off does not come across looking lopsided and a no-contest.
Ranjith had reasons to be apprehensive. Winston Chao as Tony Lee the Malaysian underworld don in Kabali was almost a caricature, a cardboard villain. If Kabali became a success it was inspite of its antagonist, not because of Tony Lee. Examine the other dud bad men in Rajini's career - Ashish Vidyarthi as deputy CM Ippo Ramasamy in Baba or Jagapathi Babu as MP Nagabhooshan in Lingaa - and you realise the battle was never one of equals.
In contrast, Rajinikanth as the villain taking on Rajinikanth the hero in Enthiran made for gripping viewing. Chitti, the good robot turns rogue and takes on its creator. Not a surprise given that Rajini made his film debut as a stylish villain before graduating to doing hero roles.
But not for Ranjith such plastic transformations. The director instead dips into mythology and reverses the traditional template of good and evil on its head to ensure Hari dada is more than a match for Karikaalan. Haridev is Ram while Kaala is Raavan. The "good" is bad in Kaala while the reading of the Ramayana is not the traditional Valmiki template. In one of the scenes, Patekar says with a tone of resigned jubiliation that since Valmiki has written that Raavan must be killed, so he must go. But in a Periyaresque interpretation, Raavan is black but not evil.
Hari dada, like the mythological hero he adores, believes in keeping his sword unrusted, to be ready for use. Karikaalan, in contrast, wields no conventional weapons. In his book, he is Yama, the God of death. The instrument he uses to vanquish is a black umbrella. It is these mythological references that give the Rajini vs Patekar battle its cutting edge.
Interestingly, Patekar's character hardly figures in the first half of the movie. But Ranjith builds up his villainy by making his presence loom large at every street corner. You feel him all the time through his smiling visage, with the slogan "Born to Rule", on posters and hoardings put up all over the city. Those in Dharavi, living cheek by jowl, cannot help but looking up to the Hari dada 24x7. Patekar looking down at Dharavi through the billboards is also to convey a sense of power, like an eagle waiting to swoop down on its prey. By the time, he actually makes his entry post intermission with a mocking "Kaala, kaisa naam hai re", Patekar has been established as a wily foe, who kills to win.
In the three confrontation scenes between Rajini and Patekar, an inanimate object - the chair, the sofa - is central to the drama that is created. But it is not like the scene involving Rajini and Ramya Krishna in Padayappa where the latter does not offer a seat in the room to the hero and he has to bring down a swing in order to sit himself. Kaala has no room for such hollow triumphs, targeted at the front benchers. A place to sit is a sense of entitlement, confidence, feeling self-assured. Ranjith makes his two principal actors confront each other, man to man, as equals.
What also helps Kaala is the consummate artistry of Patekar. Though distinctly uncomfortable when it comes to his Tamil lines, his voice has an easy menacing flourish everytime he lapses into Hindi and Marathi.
Kaala has been spoken of as more of a Pa Ranjith film than a Rajinikanth flick. But full marks for casting Nana as Dada. In the movie, Haridev does not succeed in capturing Kaala's Qila in Dharavi but Patekar will certainly help in breaching the box-office fortress.