Kallattam Movie Review

Synopsis: A father loses the money that he has gotten from a loan shark for his daughter’s surgery, and the cop investigating the theft finds out that he might have a personal connection with the case.

Review: Based on its one-line plot, Kallattam might seem like a tense thriller, but the film that we get to see on screen is anything but that. It tries to tell its story with single-minded devotion — which is admirable — but is let down by the writing and the filmmaking.

Mahendran (Richard, stone-faced) is distraught when his daughter (Baby Rithvika) has an accident. Worse, he loses the money that he had got from a loan shark for her surgery. Inspector Tamilarasan (Nandaa, stiff) takes pity on him and decides to track down the men who stole the money. And the trail leads him to Elumalai, a criminal with whom he has a history. When the well-connected Elumalai tries to get Tamilarasan arrested, the cop decides to beat the criminal at his own game.

There are some elements that seem interesting in Ramesh G’s tale — like the fact that Mahendran is unemployed and his wife being the sole breadwinner of the family, the three prominent male characters’ love for their daughters, and the revelation of the modus operandi of the criminals (which brings to mind the effective Metro). But they aren’t brought together in a convincing manner even on paper, and the filmmaking, which is archaic, doesn’t allow us to get involved with this film. Plot points are mostly narrated through dialogue and the sloppy staging of the scenes, the lifeless performances, the gaudy editing and the loud score remind you of only one thing — mega serials on TV.