Spoilers ahead…
In this thriller starring Vijay Antony and Ritika Singh, the narrative struggles to live up to the visuals.
Balaji Kumar made an impressive debut with Vidiyum Munn, in 2013. Ten years later, he is back with a film that at least looks impressive. Kolai – based on a true-life murder case – feels like a music video fused with a Vogue fashion shoot fused with the sensibilities of a noir-comic like Sin City. The look fits because the murder victim is a fashion model – and as she says, she is all about surfaces. The old song ‘Paartha nyabagam illayo‘ is sung, and also used frequently in the jazz-inflected background score. And these songs come with surreal visuals: clouds that look like faces, and two lovers standing between trains roaring past them. Even the song that opens the film has a certain sensibility. It’s the aria ‘Nessun dorma’. It’s almost a signal that the visuals are going to be equally operatic.
You can read the rest of the review here:
https://www.galatta.com/tamil/movie/review/kolai/
And you can watch the trailer / video review here:
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