Kolai Tamil HD Released

 

Murder mysteries are always a safe bet, as the audience, despite flaws, wants to stay in the world till the very end to discover who the real killer is. Kolai is yet another film that follows the template of a whodunit, where we begin to doubt every single person related to the victim as the investigation proceeds. But what makes it a decent watch is the tone and the treatment.

Laila (Meenakshi Chaudhary), a model and aspiring singer, gets murdered under mysterious circumstances. Sandhya Mohanraj (Ritika Singh), an IPS officer, gets assigned to investigate the case, which, she believes, will help prove her abilities. As things get complicated, she seeks the help of her mentor and former investigative officer, Vinayak (Vijay Antony) to get hold of the killer. Vinayak, who is already going through a personal crisis, reluctantly takes up the case only to find solace in life.

Both Sandhya and Vinayak start enquiring about a few men in Laila's life, including her boyfriend, a modeling agent and a photographer. The revelations that happen not only take us into the mysterious life of Laila but also closer to the killer.

For those who prefer a decently made murder mystery thriller with rich visuals, Kolai would be an apt choice. The film skillfully crafts an intricate web of suspicion and intrigue, drawing the viewers into the puzzling world of the investigation. But that's all there is to the film. The writing and the events that unravel don't really amaze us. Balaji Kumar takes us into the life of Laila, and shows the investigation parallelly in a non-linear fashion. It's interesting and engaging in parts. However, we are not able to fully immerse ourselves into the emotional aspects of the central characters.

The idea of the writer connecting Vijay Antony's personal loss and his trauma to the case that he's investigating seems great and does help make the screenplay a bit more effective. The second half, though, becomes a bit slow, and the writer makes us wait longer even after letting us know who the killer is. The backstory of the killer is also a bit unconvincing and could have been shaped up better in terms of writing.

While Vijay Antony and Ritika Singh's performances are good, it's Meenakshi Chaudhary's acting and screen presence that helps elevate certain sequences. It helps that she looks perfect as a model.

The technical aspects of the film, including the cinematography (Sivakumar Vijayan) and the editing (Selva RK), are its biggest strengths. There is an imaginary scene where Vijay Antony hangs from the cliff edge, holding his daughter's hands. Though it's been shot using a green screen, the director's thought-process behind featuring that particular scene metaphorically is laudable. Kolai is interesting as a whole, but somewhere it misses that unconventional writing that films in this genre demand.