PA Ranjith's Kaala, starring Rajinikanth, is a dramatic story but is essentially a straightforward reading of the Ramayana — a good guy versus bad guy story. Only, it flips the stereotypes, as is common in South Indian readings of the epic, with Rajinikanth playing Raavan, the good guy, here Kaala (Dark/Black). Nana Patekar plays the villain, always dressed in pristine white. All wrapped in deadly action set pieces and whistle-worthy dialoguebaazi. I went for the first-day-first-show at 6 am at Aurora Cinema, Matunga, caught the tail end, then saw the full 9 am screening.

The issue here is land grab in Mumbai's Dharavi slum, with Rajinikanth, the local, Tamil don, promising to help the people get housing. But Haridev Abhyankar (Nana Patekar), the Maharashtrian, nationalist, saffron goon leading the builder-politician nexus, is eyeing the property. To you, land is power. To us, it means life, Kaala thunders. In addressing slum shortages of housing, water and public toilets, the film also serves as a political manifesto, projecting Rajinikanth as leader of the poor, in his first film after joining politics. (It is produced by Rajinikanth's son-in-law Dhanush's Wunderbar Films). Also, the casting of Bollywood stars Nana Patekar, Huma Qureshi, Anjali Patil and Pankaj Tripathi, and the setting of the film in Dharavi, suggests they are seeking a wider audience beyond Tamil Nadu.