''Kalai Vendhan'' is a 2015 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

-language action drama film written and directed by R. K. Parasuram. The film stars Ajay and

Sanam Shetty Sanam may refer to: Places * Sanam, Iran, a village in Iran * Sanam, Niger, a commune in Niger * Sanam, Sudan, a village in Sudan Entertainment * ''Sanam'' (1997 film), a 1997 Hindi drama film * ''Sanam'' (1951 film), a 1951 Bollywood roma ...

in the lead roles. It was released on 7 August 2015.

Plot

Kalai (Ajay) becomes a teacher of the martial art form,

vovinam Vovinam (short for ''Võ Việt Nam''; literally meaning Vietnamese Martial Arts, or vi, Việt Võ Đạo (越武道), meaning Vietnamese Way of Martial Arts) is a Vietnamese martial art, It was founded in 1938 by Nguyễn Lộc. It is based o ...

, under training of his guru (

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivasal Vijay is an Indian actor and dubbing artist. He was born on 4 August 1962 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. He has acted predominantly in numerous Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992) ...

) at a martial arts school. Malar (

) visits the school to meet her friend, and became acquainted with Kalai. Over time, the pair fall in love. Malar's mother is against her daughter's choice of boyfriend. It is later revealed that Malar has been kidnapped, which Kalai sets out to resolve.

Cast

* Ajay as Kalai *

as Malar *

Kalabhavan Mani Kunnisseri Veettil Raman Mani (1 January 1971 – 6 March 2016), better known by his stage name Kalabhavan Mani, was an Indian actor and singer. Mani started his career as a mimicry artist with the Kalabhavan comedy troupe. He had starred in o ...

as Panneerselvam *

Manobala Manobala (born 8 December 1953) is an Indian film director, producer, actor and comedian who predominantly plays supporting roles in Tamil-language films. He started his career in Tamil cinema in the early 1970s and with Kamal Haasan's refere ...

* T. P. Gajendran *

Anu Mohan Anu Mohan (born 24 August 1990) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam films. Career He made his debut in the 2011 film, ''Orkut oru Ormakut''. He also played the antagonist in Roopesh Peethambaran's ''Theevram''. Anu Mohan is the younger ...

Nalini Nalini (Devanagari: नलिनी) is a female gender Indian given name, which means "lotus", "goddess Gayatri","mother of Vedas", "sweet nectar", "Amrit", Feminine "lily" in Sanskrit.''Baby Names''"Nalini" Retrieved on 9 January 2016. The name ...

Yuvarani Yuvarani (born 30 November 1974) is an Indian actress. She has appeared in several Tamil films in the female lead role while she has also featured in television serials. She played Rajinikanth's sister in ''Baashha ''Baashha'' is a 1995 ...

* Aarthi * Manju * S. Kamalakannan *

Sampath Ram Sampath Ram is an Indian actor who works primarily in Tamil-language films. He is known for his villainous roles. Career Ram started his acting career with the television series '' Ethanai Manithargal'' that aired on Doordarshan as a thug. He ...

Dhandapani Kadhal Dhandapani (17 April 1943 – 20 July 2014) was an Indian actor who appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He rose to fame portraying the antagonist in Balaji Sakthivel's '' Kaadhal'' (2004), and is credited with the film's name a ...

Kadhal Sukumar Kadhal Sukumar is an Indian actor and director who has appeared in Tamil language films. After working as a comedian in films for a decade, notably in Balaji Sakthivel's romantic film ''Kaadhal'' (2004). Career Sukumar, the son of a farmer from ...

Nellai Siva Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

Ambani Shankar Ambani Shankar is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil films. He has appeared in films including '' Ji'' (2005) and '' Ambasamudram Ambani'' (2010), and garnered his stage name from the latter film. Career Shankar grew up in Tirumangalam ...

Production

The core theme of the film was based on the Vietnamese martial art called

Vovinam Vovinam (short for ''Võ Việt Nam''; literally meaning Vietnamese Martial Arts, or vi, Việt Võ Đạo (越武道), meaning Vietnamese Way of Martial Arts) is a Vietnamese martial art, It was founded in 1938 by Nguyễn Lộc. It is based o ...

signed up to play dual roles in the film - that of a traditional girl from the 1970s and a modern-day college student. Sanam appeared in action scenes for the first time in her career and performed stunts without a stunt double. The action scenes in the film was shot in the forests surrounding

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Srikanth Deva.

Release and reception

The film was released on 7 August 2015. A reviewer from

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

wrote that "A weak script, lackluster narration and insipid performances ensure that the film falls in the to-be-missed-list". A reviewer from

Maalai Malar ''Maalai Malar'' is a daily evening Tamil newspaper. It is owned by Daily Thanti group. It was founded by S. P. Adithanar in 1977 at Coimbatore. Maalai Malar has twelve editions published from Chennai, Vellore, Dindigul, Thanjavur, Tirun ...

gave the film a negative review, criticising most aspects of the film-making. A critic from the entertainment portal Iflicks.in gave the film a positive review, noting the director "has made efforts to make a complete entertainer with a story that focuses on self-defense martial arts."

References

{{reflist 2010s Tamil-language films 2015 films Indian action drama films 2015 romance films