Simbu and ballyhoo are like two sides of a coin. In all his films (forget Kovil), you could see at least a couple of scenes conceived for the only reason to showcase his so-called might.

However, Kaalai is a clear exception to that, as the movie has only a handfull of scenes for other things and the entire film relies upon just only one factor, that is, Simbu. Right from the beginning to the end, Kaalai has nothing but generous ‘buildup’ scenes for the up and coming actor.

Jeeva’s (Simbu) is the grandson of a woman (Seema), who is the godmother of a village. At the age of just 10, she kills five men for selling illicit liquor and ensures that no other shady activities are taking place in her place.

Enters Jeeva (Lal), a police officer who exchanges bitter notes with Seema and burns her alive as a result. As you guessed right, Jeeva (Simbu) wants to seek retribution for his loss and woos the policeman’s daughter (Vedhika) with tested formulas.

Meanwhile, there is another Jeeva (Tharun Sathriya) too, who is a baddie. How our hero Jeeva teaches lesson to two other villain Jeevas is the remaining story of Kaalai.

Simbu’s stunt and dance sequences are well performed. Vedika’s character is a regular one. She shake legs with Simbu in exotic locales and disappears suddenly. Santhanam, as Simbu’s friend has come out with punch liners.

The performance of Veteran Seema refuses to fade and similar is the role of Sangeetha, who plays Simbu’s aunt. Lal’s villainy seems to be born with him.

RD Rajasekar’s camera and GV Prakash’s songs stand out. Director Tarun Gopi, whose debutant venture Thimiru is a harcore commercial potboiler, fails to repeat the magic in Kaalai. Though he was able to conceive an interesting knot, that is, Jeeva is name of all the three lead characters, the filmmaker has come out with a logicless screenplay.


Scoresheet

Area - Marks (out of 20)
Script - 6
Performance - 9
Music - 8

Technical aspects – 8
Direction - 6

Total - 37/100