| Kaalai | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tarun Gopi |
| Written by | Tarun Gopi |
| Produced by | S. S. Chakravarthy |
| Starring | Silambarasan Vedhika |
| Cinematography | R. D. Rajasekhar |
| Edited by | Anthony |
| Music by | G. V. Prakash Kumar |
Production company | NIC Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Kaalai (Tamil pronunciation:[ˈkaːɭaɪ]transl. Bull) is a 2008 IndianTamil-languageaction film written and directed byTarun Gopi. The film starsSilambarasan andVedhika.Sangeetha,Seema,Santhanam,Lal andSulile Kumar play supporting roles. The film's music was composed byG. V. Prakash Kumar, with cinematography handled byR. D. Rajasekhar and editing byAnthony.Kaalai was released on 15 January 2008 and was a commercial failure.[1]
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Jeeva shares his name with two other people: one villain and one police officer Jeevanandham who becomes a villain. The confusion arising from this is a significant part of the plot.
At the age of nine, Jeeva's grandmother Karuppayi Aatha slays five men because they scorned her father's advice and illegally distilled alcohol in the village. After her return from prison, the villagers both fear and revere her, and consider her the head of the village.
Jeevanandham comes to the village ruled by Karuppayi Aatha to try to find illicit activity. When he cannot find anything, he is thrashed by the villagers. He returns to take vengeance, and in the course of the hostilities burns Karuppayi Aatha alive.
Jeeva the criminal is meanwhile wooing Jeevanandham's daughter Brindha. But Brindha loves Jeeva, Karuppayi's grandson, and he wants to take revenge on his namesake for the death of his grandmother. He abducts Brindha as a hostage to lure her father to his death.
Sulile Kumar made his acting debut in the film and took the screen name "Tharun Kshatriya" at the director Tarun Gopi's suggestion.[5] Tarun Gopi was critical of Silambarasan's involvement in the project and stated that the actor grossly interfered with his duties as a director. Gopi labelled the actor "unprofessional" and stated that he could not recognise the film from his original script.[6]
The soundtrack consists of six songs composed byG. V. Prakash Kumar. Silambarasan suggestedMamta Mohandas to sing an alternate version of the rap song "Kaala Kaala".[7] The album was released on 31 December 2007.Karthik Srinivasan ofMilliblog wrote, "Three neat tracks from GV Prakashkumar, but the nonchalance towards the language and pronunciation is appalling". He was particularly critical of the diction of the non-Tamil speaking Mamta andMadhushree, especially the former pronouncing the film's title as[ˈkaːlaɪ] (transl. Morning) rather than the correct[ˈkaːɭaɪ] (transl. Bull).[8]
| Song title | Singers | Length | Lyrics |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Kaala Kaala" | Benny Dayal,Mamta Mohandas | 05.45 | Silambarasan |
| "Vandhuttaanda Kaalai" | Benny Dayal,Rahul Nambiar,Silambarasan | 03:36 | Tharun Gopi |
| "Kutti Pisase" | Silambarasan,Suchitra | 05:36 | Vaali |
| "Guththa Lakkadi" | Lucky Ali,Sunidhi Chauhan | 06:03 | Vaali |
| "Veeramulla" | Manikka Vinayagam,Palakkad Sreeram,Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram | 05:12 | Vaali |
| "Eppo Nee" | Madhushree | 05:00 | Snehan |
Kaalai was released on 15 January 2008, duringPongal, alongsideBheemaa,Pidichirukku,Pirivom Santhippom,Pazhani andVaazhthugal.[9]Sify wrote, "When Silambarasan and director Tarun Gopi came together in Kaalai we expected a racy masala entertainer. Sadly it is a watered down version of earlier films and ends up as an over-the-top ham enterprise, Kaalai is like a bull in a china shop and makes you groan".[10] TSV Hari ofRediff.com wrote the film looked like an "unplanned assembly of chases, police encounters, hip-gyrations (you can't call them dances), cacophony and choreographed fights using a set of actors sans any purpose".[11] Madhumitha ofKalki felt whether Tarun Gopi started well and stumbled or did he stumbled for not getting right output and also felt the film's screenplay had pace but lacked wisdom and the influence ofThimiru is too much.[12]
Malini Mannath ofChennai Online wrote "No doubt the director after the initial confusing scenario, has cleverly knotted up all the seemingly loose ends, and put back the pieces of the puzzle into a coherent whole. But the complicated earlier part, and the attempt to decipher it do exhaust the viewer. He could have adopted a more simplistic narrative style to this vendetta story".[13] S. R. Ashok Kumar ofThe Hindu appreciated the cinematography by Rajasekhar but was less positive of the music and Anthony's editing, adding, "Tharun Gopi's story is a neat one liner. The dialogue is up to the mark. It is in the departments of screenplay and direction that he has faltered".[14]
