Murderers in Tamil films are usually driven by motives such as money or love and find ways of hiding their guilt. But Kalaignan is different in that it features a psychopathic serial killer. The portions of the movie dealing with the killer have been handled well but the soundtrack is a big letdown.

Indrajit(Kamalhassan) is a popular pop singer in Bangalore, with young women being his biggest fans. A serial killer is on the loose, targetting his women fans, and Indrajit is the one and only suspect. The killer's first target was Sandhya(Sivaranjini), one of the dancers in Indrajit's troupe. Her sister Divya(Bindiya) has arrived in Bangalore with the intention of finding and killing the murderer. Bindiya falls in love with Indrajit but backs off after learning from the police that he is the main suspect.

The director does a good job of shifting suspicion onto Kamalhassan. Though Kamal's image works against this, the viewer is witness to a few scenes that point to Kamal being the killer and these scenes do their job. His hurried exit from the house of the second victim is particularly effective. His character is suitably brash and short-tempered and his past involves some violence and sadness, all signs of a man with psychological problems.

Kamalhassan has had a long history of great soundtracks with Ilaiyaraja. Even mediocre movies of his like Singaravelan have had some great songs. But Ilaiyaraja lets him down badly here, a fact that is even more surprising considering that Kamalhassan plays a pop singer, giving the movie a strong musical base. The unsuitable lyrics are even worse. The lyrics of both Jadakku Mudakkaana... and Kokkarakko Kozhi... are huge let-downs after the bright lights, fancy clothes and modern initial beats. Kalaignan Kattukaaval... is the other song sung on stage and it too is quite unremarkable. Only the romantic duets have the mark of Ilaiyaraja. Endhan Nenjil... is a great song rendered smoothly by Yesudas and Dil Bar Jaane... features some catchy beats.

Kamal's explanation of his side of events that led to Bindiya's suspecting him makes sense. From here, the movie progresses more like a regular whodunnit. The identity of the killer is a good surprise and the motive attributed to him is strong enough to explain his psychopathic tendencies. But the movie goes on for too long after the revelation. The long chase is boring and the sight of cars and bikes flying into the air gets repettitive after a few times. The climax is violent with the killer's end being particularly painful.

Kamal plays his role with the right amount of seriousness needed to cast suspicion on himself. His dance steps seem a little slow now. Bindiya, who bears a close resemblance to Madhuri Dixit, romances nicely and looks scared. Sivaranjini, who usually played a goody-goody, sweet girl, is effective as the stubborn drug addict. Nasser does not have much to do as the police inspector while his sidekick constable provides the movie's few moments of comic relief.