Kolai Movie Review
Vijay Antony is efficient in a different role, packing in this fine murder mystery. Down goes our Kolai Movie Review.
Vijay Antony is one actor who picks his scripts very carefully, and Kolai is expectedly another different pick from him after delivering a blockbuster with Pichaikkaran 2. The actor arrives with a slightly different look in the film, with grey-shaded hair and an elder role to maneouvre.
Kolai is a locked-room murder mystery that takes place in a differently-styled Chennai (referred to as Madras in the film). Director Balaji Kumar’s idea of retro modernism is artistically styled, as he has a different eye for visuals and is superbly aided by the camerawork of Sivakumar Vijayan. The film is interestingly narrated from the POV of the victim, which is a cool perspective to adopt. Balaji Kumar presents the suspects one by one in the first half, and moves to the real bottom of the case in the second half. The film on its whole is quite simple with its proceedings, but it still manages to engage us through its solid technicalities.
Vijay Antony delivers a different and likeable performance, in a controlled atmosphere around him. Ritika Singh is a good fit. Meenakshi Chaudhary has a solid role to play, and is the pivot of the film throughout. The film also has good performances from Siddhartha Shankar and Murali Sharma.
Kolai has superb music by Girish who is the backbone of the film, giving it very good songs and fine BGM. His music really elevates the proceedings of the film in many places. On the other hand, Sivakumar Vijayan’s unique camerawork is a plus along with the editing by Selva which is razor sharp.
Kolai could have done with better writing which would have enabled the viewers to get closer to the case and its details. The film has a very simple setup, which could have been complicated further for better viewing. However, the technicalities of the film help it jump higher and turn out as a quality product.
