Kaalakkoothu movie review: Mismatch of worthy performers against clichéd script

Direction: Nagarajan

Cast: Prasanna, Kalaiarasan, Sai Dhanshika, Srushti Dange

Kaalakkoothu is a Madurai-themed film with good acting and a predictable storyline. Written and directed by debutant M. Nagarajan, the film clearly has a mismatch: a cast of worthy performers like Kalaiarasan, Prasanna, Sai Dhanshika and Shrusti Dange pitted against a script that is worn out and clichéd.

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Eshwaran (Prasanna), an orphan, and Hari (Kalaiarasan) are schoolmates. Though initially they don’t get along, an incident gets them closer. Fast forward, they are thick friends now. Hari, who is jobless, is in a relationship with a college-going girl Gayathri (Sai Dhanshika). Eshwaran, who works as a mechanic, is still his lonesome self. A meek Revathy (Shrusti Dange) takes a liking for him, but he ignores her out of fear. With encouragement from Hari, Eshwaran approves of Revathy’s approaches. And meanwhile, the duo beat up the son of a local mayor for harassing Hari’s sister. Just when things seem to fall in place in their personal lives, disaster strikes for both of them. What happens next forms the reminder of the film.

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Kalaiarasan has given a splendid performance, be it the rowdiness or the romance. His accents and delivery too are on point. Sai Dhansika’s strengths are in her bility to emote rather than the youthful looks. Prasanna’s character isn’t given enough space to develop, and hence his moodiness is a bit off. He shines when he bursts out of his element with newfound confidence, especially when there’s violence in the air. Shrusti is just about adequate.

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Justin Prabhakaran’s melodies and BGM are good. Had Nagarajan infused freshness in narration and few exciting elements in screenplay, Kaalakkoothu would have been more interesting.