Kala is a Malayalam film released in 2021 on Amazon Prime. The film is directed by Rohith V S and features Tovino Thomas, Divya Pillai, Sumesh Moor and Lal. Kala is produced by Juvis Productions. The cinematography of Kala done by Akhil George is worth the appreciation, but the film did not appeal to me at all.

The story of Kala revolves around a willful man named Shaji. He lives with his wife, son and father in his father’s house. Shaji has lost a lot of his father’s money in experimental business startups. His father, Ravi is a stern and peevish man. Shaji’s wife, Vidya is irritated by his behaviour and decides to visit her native place for a couple of days with her son, Appu. Meanwhile, Ravi also has to visit the doctor. Shaji stays in the house with his dog, Blackie.

The film deals with the span of this one day. A man from Shaji’s past, disguised as a worker, comes to seek revenge. This worker shows attributes of a madman. Shaji is proud and brims with toxic masculinity. He believes that he can dominate over anyone. Well, except for his father.

The basic plot of Kala only promotes violence between the protagonists on a disgraceful level. The film calls itself a psychological thriller but there are no thrilling twists or turns in the film. The same act is repeated every ten minutes at different sites.

A few scenes in Kala are based on true incidents, which was the only fact that kept a part of my interest in the film. In the beginning, I was quite excited to watch an Indian psychological thriller, but Kala only disappointed me. Yet, the actors pulled off a good performance.

Rohith V S is known for directing comedy films like ‘Adventures of Omanakuttan’ and ‘Iblis’. I did not expect a filmmaker who makes such light hearted fun films to try his hand at a negative movie. I am sorry to say this, but his experiment to make a dark thriller film was a failure.

Trigger warning: The audience who avoid watching violent films, bloodshed or other graphic content in films should not try to watch Kala.

Rating 2.5/5