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Kaalai

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Kaalai
Directed byTarun Gopi
Written byTarun Gopi
Produced byS. S. Chakravarthy
StarringSilambarasan
Vedhika
CinematographyR. D. Rajasekhar
Edited byAnthony
Music byG. V. Prakash Kumar
Production
company
NIC Arts
Release date
  • 14 January 2008 (2008-01-14)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Kaalai (transl. Bull) is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Tarun Gopi. The film stars Silambarasan and Vedhika in the lead roles. Sangeetha, Seema, Santhanam, Lal and Sulile Kumar play supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar.

Kaalai opened on 14 January 2008 and was a commercial failure.[1][2]

Plot

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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.

Cast

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Uncredited
  • Sabarna as Brindha's friend[3]
  • Mahat Raghavendra as Jeeva's friend[4]
  • Meesai Rajendranath as Police Inspector[5]
  • Lollu Sabha Easter as Ezhumalai[6]
  • Ramdoss as Tea shop fight participant[4]
  • Rinson Simon as a background dancer in the song "Kutti Pisaase"[7]

Production

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Casting

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In pre-production work, Tarun Gopi originally offered the lead role to Madhavan, then to Telugu actor Prabhas. Neither was able to take up the role, so Silambarasan was recruited instead. The original choice for the lead female role was Trisha, who was replaced by Vedhika. Prakash Raj was originally selected for the role of the police officer Jeeva, but he was replaced by Malayalam actor Lal.[8]

Filming

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Most of the film was shot in the villages around Theni. Australia was originally planned to be the location for filming songs, but due to visa problems these scenes were shifted to Malaysia.[9] A fast beat song sequence was shot at the Golden Beach, Chennai with Simbu and Vedhika.[10] For much of the filming the heroine was not finalized, so large sections of the movie were shot without the female lead. The shoots appeared disorganized, with few actors recruited ahead of time.[8] Silambarasan did some editing work with Anthony, who is said to have been impressed by his work and presented him with ₹25,000 (equivalent to ₹75,000 or US$900 in 2023).[11]

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack consists of six songs composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar. Actress Mamta Mohandas sang the song "Kaala Kaala".[12] The soundtrack had a soft launch.[13] Karthik Srinivasan of Milliblog wrote, "Three neat tracks from GV Prakashkumar, but the nonchalance towards the language and pronunciation is appalling".[14]

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

Release

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Kaalai was released on 14 January 2008 at the Pongal festival alongside Bheemaa, Pidichirukku, Pirivom Santhippom, Pazhani and Vaazhthugal.[15]

Critical reception

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Indiaglitz wrote: "The narrative is too loud and it lacks finesse. Silambarasan handles the 'omnipotent hero' character with confidence. Vedhika announces her arrival as the potential glam girl of 2008. This one with a beautiful and innocent face has just the right figure to take up glamour roles".[16] Nowrunning wrote: "Silambarasan's more than life image is unrealistic if not out of place. Vedhika exudes glamour and performs well in duet songs".[17] 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".[18] Rediff 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".[19] Madhumitha of Kalki 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 of Thimiru is too much.[20] Malini Mannath of Chennai 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".[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Top 10 Chennai Box Office | Kaalai". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  2. ^ "'Kettavan' as good as shelved: Simbu". The Hindu. 20 June 2009. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Tamil TV actor death: Police found Saberna's body in a pool of blood". 12 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b "காளை திரைப்படத்தில் ஒரு ஓரமாக நடித்துள்ள நடிகர் யார் தெரியுமா.? தெரிந்தால் ஷாக் ஆவிங்க". Tamil360Newz. 15 November 2020. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  5. ^ "காளை | Kaalai | Tamil Action Movie | Silambarasan | Vedhika | Full Tamil Movies". 29 April 2023. Event occurs at 6:14. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
  6. ^ "காளை | Kaalai | Tamil Action Movie | Silambarasan | Vedhika | Full Tamil Movies". 29 April 2023. Event occurs at 37:50. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
  7. ^ "மாஸ் கெட்டப்பில் காட்சியளிக்கும் நண்பன் பட மில்லிமீட்டர்". News18 தமிழ். 15 October 2021. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Only eight days of shoot and Kaala team is back in town". Behindwoods. 12 April 2007. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Kaalai going places!". Behindwoods. 27 December 2007. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  10. ^ "Simbu, Vedika and the soaring temperature". Behindwoods. 5 May 2007. Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Silambarasan gets paid by the editor!". Behindwoods. 4 February 2008. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  12. ^ "Mamta croons for Kaalai". Sify. 14 September 2007. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  13. ^ "A sneak peek into Kaalai music". Behindwoods. 31 December 2007. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  14. ^ Karthik (31 December 2007). "Kaalai (Tamil – G.V.Prakashkumar)". Milliblog. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Pongal movies and censor certificates". IndiaGlitz. 11 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  16. ^ "Kaalai Tamil Movie Review". IndiaGlitz. 15 January 2008. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  17. ^ "Kaalai Review - Tamil Movie Review by PVS". Nowrunning. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 23 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  18. ^ "Kaalai". Sify. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  19. ^ Hari, TSV (16 January 2008). "Kaalai: A wasted effort". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  20. ^ மதுமிதா (10 February 2008). "காளை". Kalki (in Tamil). pp. 79–80. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  21. ^ Mannath, Malini (29 January 2008). "Kaalai". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
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