‘Kolai’ movie review: An unflattering murder-mystery that prioritises style over substance – The Hindu
With Kolai being a locked-room homicide thriller based mostly on a real-life unsolved homicide (the 1923 homicide of Dot King), and the presence of a star who is commonly credited for getting the sensibilities of the lots proper, the promise was an intriguing movie value investing your time in. It’s a easy story that’s informed by the construction of a basic whodunit; after a singer-model Leila (Meenakshii Chaudhury) is discovered mysteriously murdered inside her home, two detectives (Vijay Antony and Ritika) observe the breadcrumbs to map out all doable suspects. Leila’s singer-boyfriend Sathish (Siddhartha Shankar) is the primary one, however he has a powerful alibi. Babloo (Kishore Kumar, the comedic aid within the movie), Leila’s nagging ex-manager; Arjun (Arjun Chidambaram), a high vogue photographer accused of bodily assault; and a perverted modelling head (Murli Sharma) are the opposite fundamental suspects with questionable alibis and convincing motives.
Kolai (Tamil)
Firstly, director Balaji Okay Kumar doesn’t cover from how rapidly he needs to get into the story. Even earlier than you get accustomed to his distinct storytelling model, the expository dialogues kill half the joy. Within the very first shot of police constable Sandhya Mohanraj (Ritika), we’re informed that she is a high scholar of a detective named Vinayak. Vinayak (Vijay) is launched because the intelligent and shrewd Sherlock who hesitates to get again into the sector, and after we meet his spouse, she instantly lets us know the standing of their relationship and about their youngster who’s essential within the hospital after a highway accident. When the detectives meet the inspector of the police station Mansoor Ali Khan (John Vijay), he’s the everyday perverted and immoral sloth from the phrase go.
A number of timelines are bridged utilizing dialogues as transitions, and although this looks as if a cool trick, it’s unlucky that it’s only the method that makes any impression; the dialogues hold us at an arm’s size from the occasions on display, similar to the narrative model and the world its set in.
The visible transitions and use of surreal metaphors additionally observe the same sample. It’s promising to see the thought that has gone behind every of those meticulously-sketched and programmed photos, however you may’t assist however marvel why they solely underline what has already been informed. The mise en scène captures our consideration extra, primarily as a result of Balaji evidently strives arduous to take us right into a world that by no means fairly manages to drag us in fully. The movie is ready in a fictional place, known as… Madras, which is imbued with the spirit of Chennai.; it additionally partly looks as if a manifestation of a futuristic Chennai that Balaji foresees.
However nothing actually sticks to the thoughts, making each the world and the folks it inhabits appear plasticky and soulless. That even the performances and dialogue supply don’t assist in promoting the feelings of the characters is disappointing. Although it’s commendable that Vijay Antony is exploring such genres and settings, the movie gives the actor in him nothing attention-grabbing, ultimately turning out to be a staple whodunit with no try and subvert something.
All that stated, Balaji Kumar is certainly an attention-grabbing filmmaker to be careful for. Not day-after-day do you get to see Tamil movies with such transitions and strategies; from a reverse shot reconstructing a spot and taking it again in time, to 1 character within the body being frozen in time to permit the others to work together.
What emerges as a transparent winner is the music although. Girishh Gopalakrishnan steals the present, and the primary theme (a remixed ‘Partha Nyabagam Illaiyo’ from the 1964 Puthiya Paravai) haunts you for hours after the film.
Kolai is at present working in theatres
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