Kaalidas Review: A crisp whodunit thriller that lacks a bit of spice

Kaalidas can be easily seen as a comeback movie for Bharath. Debutante director Sri Senthil has written an engaging script and have executed it convincingly too!

The movie is a whodunit thriller that travels around

• the series of crimes,
• a policeman who is a very normal person who is keen on cracking the case, and who is also sincere at his work in general,
• and the family issues that the policeman faces.

The movie deals with quite some stuff, but the screenplay doesn’t deviate or distract from its focus which is a big plus.

Kaalidas starts with showing us a seemingly-suicidal scene where a girl falls from the terrace of a building and dies on spot.

Kaalidas (Bharath) is the cop who’s assigned to crack the case. Initially he concludes that the death is a suicide.

But the deaths don’t stop with that. A couple more deaths of that kind happen and that kindles suspicion.

So Kaalidas, accompanied by his senior official (Suresh Menon) work on the case seriously. There seems to be a murderer involved.

Meanwhile Kaalidas’s wife Vidhya (Ann Sheetal) is unhappy because he is not spending enough time with her. The couple has problems between them.

A new tenant appears in the picture and Vidhya gets close with him and their relationship develops into something more than mere friendship.

Kaalidas is between cracking the case that’s getting challenging while also having to mend his family life that he is slowly losing.

Bharath suits the role of Kaalidas perfectly. However, his character lacks some depth so we are unable to emphathize with him.

Interestingly though, the characters of Ann Sheetal and Suresh Menon are written with nice depth.

Both of their performances are awesome too. In particular Suresh Menon effortlessly performs his role with much ease.

The scattered bits and pieces of information that look unnecessary are nicely connected in the end.

The climax is neat and impactful.

What the movie lacks is a bit of spice. For a whodunit thriller like this, a few more edge of the seat moments would have raised the tempo.

The movie has a crisp run time which is a big plus. That’s mainly because the screenplay is so focused.

Even though there are no gory scenes involved, the thrill factor remains.

However, the motive behind the murders should have been even more convincing.

On the technical side, the movie screams “low budget” throughout. Even the sets and the art design imply the same.

Nevertheless, the making makes up for it.

Suresh Bala’s cinematography is apt for the movie.

Vishal Chandrasekhar’s music does total justice to the movie and its thrill factor, however at places it does sound really noisy.

Overall Kaalidas is a well made, gripping thriller with some minor drawbacks that can be conveniently overlooked.

The engaging and crisp screenplay, the subtle thrill factor and the mild twist all feel fresh!

You can watch Kaalidas in the big screen to experience these.