Kaalidas Movie Review
A minimalistic but mostly effective cop film that has its climax twist as the make or break. Here goes our Kaalidas Movie Review.
In an industry where actors take the shortcut to don the khaki early in their careers, it is interesting to see Bharath wait all this long to make his appearance as a cop. In his latest film Kaalidas, the actor comes in as a cop cracking down a peculiar case that leads to some startling reveals.
Thankfully, Kaalidas does not waste much time goofing around, and directly gets to the plot with a series of suicides confusing the cops. As Bharath makes his way to work on the case, a crime consultant in Suresh Menon too walks in. Together, the duo get busy trying to find the culprit. But what makes the scenario interesting is the relationship that forms between Aadhav Kannadasan and Bharath’s wife (played by a superb Ann Sheetal), forming the emotional arc of the film.
Right from the get-go, Kaalidas presents itself as drama that gets increasingly personal for the protagonist. The good thing here is that the film sticks to the basics, and does not opt for any showy fights or needless heroism. Writer-director Sri Senthil makes the right choices on paper, but the film does miss a trick when it moves to the all-important part which is the twist.
Though the ending is an unexpected one, it may not work for a few given the foreplay which was done in a half-hearted manner. Nevertheless, Sri Senthil makes sure that he spices up his narration with an intriguing second half, particularly the last 30 minutes which make you play the guessing game.
Bharath is adequately good in the role of the cop, but it is Ann Sheetal who steals the show making a terrific debut in the Tamil scene. She has a big bag of expressions to emote, and deals with it in a matured fashion, taking away the attention. Aadhav Kannadasan has a fairly good role to play and gives it what it needs, but one cannot help but be impressed by Suresh Menon’s performance in the film, which turns on a new cape to the usual cop characters that we see these days.
Vishal Chandrasekhar’s music compliments the proceedings well at most places, but for some Arabic bits which feel odd. His songs in particular aid the narration, especially Mazhai which is a very good character introduction number. Bhuvan Srinivasan’s editing is sharp, keeping the absorption of the emotions in mind along with the pacing that the film needs.
On the whole, Kaalidas goes down as a satisfactory cop drama that comes in with a surprising final reveal. The film lacks great production values or finesse, but what it is has is a simple and effective storyline that is well translated on screen to an extent. Kaalidas Movie Review by Siddarth Srinivas
