Actors taking long breaks sure don't seem to be spending that time screening scripts. First it was Vikram who, after more than a two year absence from the big screen, showed up in the unoriginal stunt-fest Bheemaa. Now Simbhu, who hasn't had a release since 2006's Vallavan, appears in the even more unoriginal KaaLai. Confusing to start with and completely uninspired, it might still be a step up for Simbhu from Vallavan but it is definitely a step back for its director Tarun Gopi, whose last movie Thimiru was entertaining even if predictable.

The three main characters here are Jeeva(Simbhu), a college student, Jeeva, a rowdy and Jeevanandham(Lal), a police officer. The rowdy has his eyes on Jeevanandam's daughter(Vedha) and harasses her since he has her helpless father under his control. On a friend's advice, the daughter goes to Jeeva for help but she doesn't know that Jeeva himself is on a mission and she will soon play an important part in it.

There is a thin line between generating suspense and leading to irritation and this film crosses it. The initial scenes have people in different locations and under different circumstances talking about Jeeva(Vedha submits a complaint about Jeeva, Sangeetha asks her men to kidnap Jeeva, a police officer kills a man under Jeeva's orders, etc.). With three people named Jeeva, the intention here is to generate some suspense about exactly who each of them is talking about. But it ends up being confusing rather than suspenseful. There have been movies that showed us scenes from multiple tracks before bringing them together but the scenes here just seem like a jumbled mess.

The technique of showing us scenes from multiple tracks is usually worthwhile if it leads to something substantial; if the tracks come together in surprising or exhilarating fashion. But all that initial suspense in Kaalai doesn't lead to anything groundbreaking or even interesting. The suspense is revealed pretty soon and is backed by a flashback. about the events behind Simbhu's mission. The flashback itself is cliched with stock elements like a village with a respected elder, a happy family and a corrupt police officer.

The movie, in familiar fashion, jazzes up this basic storyline with fights, romance and music but doesn't get much of that right either. The action is routine and unexciting and it doesn't help that some of the settings - like in the fight sequence in the bus stand - remind us of situations from the director's previous film . The romance is silly but one consolation is that the silliness is restricted to Vedha's behavior. Simbhu's actions turn out to have a good enough reason later. The song sequences are expectedly unimaginative but even by the movie's low standards, the way Simbhu's item number with Nila is brought in is silly and gives an early hint of the director's lack of ideas.

Simbhu's hairstyle here suits him well and the serious nature of the role prevents him from hamming as he usually does. But the finger-swishing and punchlines are there in full force and he adds dragging his feet against the ground(like a bull, to address the movie's title) to his arsenal. Vedha, previously seen in Muni, doesn't further her chances in Kodambakkam with this role. Lal, who is turning out to be a popular character actor, plays a cliched villain. Sangeetha appears in a confusing role that starts off looking important but soon turns out to be all bark and no bite.