A still from ‘Kaala’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Superstar Rajinikanth’s 2018 socio-political action drama, Kaala, directed by ace filmmaker Pa Ranjith, has been listed as one of the 25 films of the 21st century in the latest Summer issue of the British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound magazine. Kaala is also the only Indian title to find a place in the list, which features titles from across the world in the likes of Old Boy, Get Out, and Artificial Intelligence.
According to BFI’s official website, the list was made with the help of 25 film critics, each nominating a film that is “both representative of and a high watermark of the years 2000 to 2024.”
“From our vantage point in 2024, we sit one quarter of the way through the 21st century. To acknowledge this milestone, we have enlisted the help of 25 of our finest critics, asking each to nominate a film that is significant within our cinematic era – the kind of film that could be put into a time capsule for the cinephiles of the 22nd century and beyond to marvel at, a movie that is both representative of and a high watermark of the years 2000 to 2024.
“Listed in chronological order, these 25 entries – one from each year – form a fascinating snapshot of our times. With no aspirations to comprehensiveness, this is a subjective, esoteric, perhaps even provocative, collection of films. From the UK to Brazil to China to Lesotho, from independent breakthroughs to Hollywood hits to the utterly uncategorisable, our cover feature celebrates the films of the century so far,” reads the blurb about the magazine issue on BFI’s website.
Kaala, Ranjith’s fourth feature film and his second with Rajinikanth, told the story of Karikalan a.k.a Kaala, a man looked up to by the oppressed slum dwellers of Dharavi, Mumbai. The film followed Kaala’s fight against a fascist minister and a business mogul named Hari Dhadha and his plans to grab the lands of Dharavi and evict its residents.
With music scored by Santhosh Narayanan, the film also featured Nana Patekar, Eswari Rao, Huma Qureshi, Samuthirakani, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil, and Manikandan in pivotal roles. Released in theatres on 7 June 2018, the film earned critical and commercial success.
Meanwhile, other films to feature in Sight and Sound’s list are The Gleaners and I, Artificial Intervention, Divine Intervention, Old Boy, Anatomy of Hell, A History of Violence, Inland Empire, Unrelated, La Rabbia di Pasolini, Everyone Else, Attenberg, Bridesmaids, Barbara, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, The Babadook, Cemetery of Splendor, Aquarius, Get Out, This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, Self-Portrait: Window in 47KM, Petite Maman, Walk Up, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, and The Human Surge 3.
