Kara – Isn’t exactly spotless!
Bharath Vijayakumar
Vignesh Raja’s Kara jumps right into action in the very first scene with quite some intensity. What follows is a tense stretch that sets the ball rolling. The premise is nicely set up for a cat and mouse game. After this initial sprint, the film takes a breather and slows down as we are introduced to the primary characters that are related to the protagonist. We are given bits and pieces of information about the past of the hero (or should we still call protagonist?) and his current moral and emotional turmoil. At this point, the most interesting aspect of the film is the character of Dhanush. Is he the hero? Or is he the protagonist with his own grey shades? The film works a lot better when it is in this dilemma or to put it more correctly, when we the audience are in this dilemma about him.
Dhanush plays a thief. Or should we say, a reluctant thief? Again, there isn’t a straightforward answer to this. Is he a thief for a lack of opportunity or is he a thief as it is the easy way out for him? At one point he says that robbing is the only skill that he possesses. But has he tried other means? The question remains. But the film doesn’t glorify his deeds, at least in the initial portions. But then we must root for the hero, right? So, there are events that push him towards his only skill. The issue with Kara is that these events feel thrust in. The events as such are fine but the way the characters are made to behave isn’t exactly fine. A scheming bank manager who must get his job done shouldn’t exactly behave like a masala move villain, right? Well, he isn’t going around shouting but his characterization leaves a lot to be desired. And this issue gets amplified in the second half of Kara where the film is caught in between a grounded heist thriller and a one-man hero vehicle. The hero isn’t jumping across buildings or sending henchmen flying but he also isn’t exactly breaking a sweat. The tension in that excellent episode leading to the interval is because we know that the hero isn’t having it easy. This tension goes for a toss in the second half of Kara. Here too he may not be having it easy and there are challenges in front of him but now we aren’t feeling much. The involvement of watching an exciting cricket match isn’t there and we are made to feel like catching up occasionally with the score alone would suffice. And the earlier dilemma of hero vs protagonist also vanishes by now as Kara gradually moves into a hero vehicle minus the usual loudness. Now he isn’t just fighting for his survival. He is fighting for his people!
The emotional portions of Kara are a mixed bag. For the film to have worked a whole lot better, these portions ought to have been more impactful. They only work at a surface level, and this is surprising given the good performances. Maybe it is because some of these portions feel shoehorned.
Bottomline:
Kara tries to build a heist thriller around an emotionally intimate core. And then it also brings in a social angle with the hero changing into a saviour. The mix doesn’t exactly come together seamlessly. The film has some really good moments, especially in the first half. Maybe a proper cat and mouse game between Dhanush and Suraj Venjaramoodu alone could have been more exciting. But the film isn’t going for that alone and that is the prerogative of the filmmaker. For now, we have an eminently watchable film with a couple of great stretches!