Movie Review : Kolai

 The Vijay Antony starrer Kolai, directed by Balaji Kumar, hit screens on July 21st.

Vijay Antony plays Vinayak, a detective who has given up his work,  after an accident which leaves his daughter in a coma. But when the murder of a top model Leila ( Meenakshi Chaudhary debuting in Kollywood) takes place,  his former trainee, Sandhya, played by Ritika Singh, who is now a cop, calls him for help. 

Intrigued by the case, he agrees and as the complicated layers unfold, the duo attempt to peel them off till they reach the truth, with many possibilities from ex lovers to friends and business associates, emerging as suspects.

Who killed the rising star and why?  Does the girl get justice?

The movie is made with a stylish Hollywoodian touch of the 20's by Balaji Kumar which gives a very different feel to the proceedings.

Music by Girish is a big plus in adding to the atmosphere of the world created by the director while Sivakumar Vijayan's camerawork is superb, adding to the beautifully created sets by the art department, all of which are an integral part part of the story, adding their bits to the whodunit puzzle.

Vijay Antony as the brooding, intelligent and intuituve detective battling his own pain in his personal life,  plays his role to perfection, delivering a measured performance with just the right body language and dialogue delivery and expressions.

Ritika Singh does justice to her role while Meenakshi Chaudhary makes an impactful debut in Kollywood, with her very credible performance as the model battling her own demons.

Siddhartha Shankar as her friend, is a surprise package who leaves a mark with his controlled but impactful performance.

Every actor is well chosen and does his part well. 

On the flip side,  the extensive use of English reminds one of the English plays on the  Chennai stage in the past decades and may not be relatable to many in the audience.

However, Balaji has stuck to what he wants to portray and stays true to form in what he does. The screenplay seems to move slowly with extensive dialogues in the first half, but things pick up in the second half, leading to an interesting climax.

Kolai,  a tastefully made stylish whodunit, in no hurry to unravel secrets, keeps its own pace and drawing you in,   transports you to its own world and keeps you  enchanted and invested in its characters till the very end. 

Rating 3.5/ 5Cast:

Vijay Antony - Vinayak veeradiyar
Ritika Singh - Sandhya Mohan raj
Meenakshi Chaudhry- Leila
Radhika - Rekha
Murali Sharma- Aditya Kaushik
Siddartha shankar - Satish
Arjun Chidambaram - Arjun

Crew:

Dop - Sivakumar Vijayan
Editor - R K Selva
Music - Girish Gopala Krishnan
Art director - Arusamy
Stunt - Mahesh Mathew