Kaala Review: Avinash Tiwary fails to impress with his half-baked crime-drama

Film:
Kaala

Kaala Director: Bejoy Nambiar

Starcast: Avinash Tiwary, Taher Shabbir, Rohan Vinod Mehra, Nivetha Pethuraj and Hiten Tejwani

Platform: Disney+ Hotstar

Kaala Review

Crime-thrillers have become the go-to genre for filmmakers these days. The latest one to join the bandwagon is Nejoy Nambiar’s Kaala. Starring Avinash Tiwary as an IB officer, Kaala is an 8-episodic crime adventure series that deals with the issue of reverse hawala, a kind of transaction where the money is sent back to the original sender usually through a different broker. The show also stars Taher Shabbir, Rohan Vinod Mehra, Nivetha Pethuraj and Hiten Tejwani and has released on Disney+ Hotstar this morning.

Watch the trailer while reading Kaala Review:

Storyline

Based in Kolkata, Kaala’s story takes us through the journey of Ritwik Mukherjee (Avinash Tiwary) – an intelligence officer who is trying to stop a 14 trillion money shipment being made by powerful businessman Naman Arya (Taher Shabbir). However, as he delves deeper into the process, he gets set up as a criminal himself while determined to disrupt the efforts of Naman Arya.

While Ritwik puts his life and profession at stake to put Naman behind bars, he finds himself being labeled as a criminal. How he makes his way out amidst all the action, adventure and crime forms the series’ storyline.

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Kaala does not have in it to put the audience on the edge of their seats. It is neither intriguing nor gripping. It almost felt like a punishment to watch the series and get entangled in its confusing storyline. It’s surprising how such mediocre content is still being released online. Kaala has nothing impressive in it – just some twists here and there, that’s it.

Performances

Avinash, whose Bambayi Meri Jaan released this week as well, has done a decent job with his performance in Kaala. However, he doesn’t succeed in bringing in the power of an IB Officer. Taher Shabbir is a nice fit in this one. He carries his grey character perfectly. The supporting cast, including Rohan Vinod Mehra, Nivetha Pethuraj and Hiten Tejwani, have delivered decent performances.

Drawbacks of Kaala

Confusing plot: Kaala has two parallel storylines running – one is Ritwik’s in 2018 and the other one is his dad’s in 1988. When you make a series with two parallel storylines, it is very important to keep in mind to make it as simple as possible. However, the plot of the series is confusing at points and keeps switching between 2018 and 1988 in a haywire manner.

Direction: Bejoy Nambiar’s direction is disappointing. I expected way more than a confusing half-baked crime-drama from a filmmaker like him. The storyline is not intriguing and it doesn’t have it in it to keep the audience hooked.

Kaala poster

Choose Filters

Normal

1977

Crema

Ludwig

Moon

Willow

Length: In no way was it necessary to make Kaala an 8-episodic series. The editing could have been way crisper and definitely with a lot more clarity. The length of the show has only worked against it. When it’s a crime drama, it’s extremely important to make it a gripping one but well, the makers fail to do so with this show.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to watch a fantastic and intriguing crime-drama, go watch Only Murders In The Building. The Selena Gomez starrer also airs on Dinsey+ Hotstar. But this Avinash Tiwary show is definitely a big no-no for me.

Also Read: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Kartik Aaryan and others attend the special screening of Kaala

Rashita Sahni

I make celebrities talk, laugh & spill the tea!
Film & Fashion Journalist | Bombay