‘Kaala’ (2023) Hotstar Series Review - A Slow Mess

The title of the Hotsar series is Kaala because the Intelligence Bureau is after Naman Arya, a man who is converting millions of black money into white money. The IB has been tracking the movements of this person for a long time. This would have been a great catch for the bureau had they not worked as per the request of the Chief Minister.

Ritwik, an officer in the Intelligence Bureau knows all about Naman Arya, thanks to his resource. The identity of this informer isn’t kept hidden for too long. The series is an elaborate trial showing a man trying to save his country and learning the truth about his father.

Ritwik’s dad worked for the Indian Armed Forces. Once, an unsanctioned operation came and he decided to be a part of it. That was the day that changed the lives of two families and made Mr. Mukherjee a fugitive. With all the evidence in their hand, Arya would have been behind bars for multiple years. What Ritwik in this series lacked was execution. He had all the planning and resources, but a little mistake made the plan fail. Nonetheless, he still achieves good things.

In the scene in which I realized the grave mistake IB has made, I thought that had the boys waited for some time, they would have earned themselves glory. Also, which chief minister would decline the offer of getting 40% of the 150 crore currency seized? Kaala seems to be living in an imaginative world.

What Kaala had in hand was a great plot that could've been turned into a successful title. Rather, what we saw was a mind-numbing tale that gradually gave us time to rethink the decision to watch it. At the beginning of Kaala, they took us to 1988 and showed the operation in which the tunnel was blown. From that scene onwards, there was a potential in the series. What the makers decided to follow wasn’t able to impress the audience.

Avinash Tiwary in the role of Ritwik leads the series. He has done a great job and had the script been better, his efforts wouldn’t have gone in vain. I have seen his work in Laila Majnu, so my expectations from him were high. He blends into the role of Ritiwk so effortlessly that I forgot that he is the same actor who played the role of Majnu in Imtiaz Ali’s movie. Tiwary shows a lot of potential, and I wish to see him more than twice or thrice a year.

In my opinion, Kaala could have been made and done better in so many ways. The series was so slow that it could let you have a good sleep. A better presentation with a fast-paced slot would have been a better approach for a concept like this.

The ending was a befitting one and none other than the chosen one would have provided justice to the characters. It is said that the journey matters more than the destination and the journey was a boring one in one. Simply having a good ending doesn’t make a series good.

Great action scenes could be included to hype the energy of the series. What the makers have shown in Kaala looks like a teaser to something that could have been huge. In all, the eight episodes of Kaala, which have a variable duration of 30 to 52 minutes could be better on multiple fronts. If you decide to watch this series, do not enter with any expectations and try to go with the flow even if it’s a turbulent one.

Final Score – [6/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
Follow @_riyasinghhh_ on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times