I rewatched 'Kaala' few days ago and found its interesting contextual connection with Salaam Bombay― the working-class ghetto of Mumbai, Nana Patekar's authoritarian, the Ganesh festival and the climax mob frenzy. But Ranjith rewrites many things that was offensive in SB.

For example, Mira Nair partly humanizes with Nana Patekar's character (Baba); whom should actually be detested (politically/morally), while Ranjith villanizes Kaala's Hari Dada in its entirety and sees him as an embodiment of Brahmanism.

And there's obviously a lot of difference in Ranjith's proletarian gaze and Mira Nair's upper-caste, elitist gaze of seeing a working-class ghetto.

Salaam Bombay ends sad, tragic and pessimistic while Kaala ends as a celebration of identity. In SB climax, Mira oppresses the already oppressed in a mob frenzy created by a Hindu festival (This can alternatively read as a kind of a moralistic ending/sin for killing Baba). (1/2)

In Kaala its the other way around - Hari Dada is killed by a rebellion of the oppressed class and Hinduism is denounced - the colours blue/red etc... which are associated with Communism, Ambedkar, Buddha, subaltern identity are celebrated. (2/2)