Kadhal is one of those different films which are well directed and totally draws you in.
1) Story - Its the same old lovestory, but there is some difference here. The boy and the girl are shown eloping in the beginning. Its the story of how they fell in love and how they are gonna survive in a big city. There are some loopholes in the story though, like how the bachelors all of a sudden turned from lustful woman eaters to merciful saints. But I like how its a real life story. (6/10)
2) Direction & Screenplay - This is what made this movie totally good. The excellent direction is visible right from the first few scenes which leaves the viewers wondering what is going on?..only soon to find out. None of the scenes really bore you, as all are excellently done. A few exceptions are the comic attempt in the second half and the overthetopness of the climax. Could have made it more subtle to increase the effect. But overall defenitely a huge leap from Saamurai. (8/10)
3) Music - Joshu Sridhar is a talented new guy. While the music is not exceptional it sounds pleasant and is a treat to listen to with the movie. I like his instrumentation. Thottu Thottu is the pick of the lot. Its a CD I wouldn’t regret buying/burning. (7/10)
4) Acting & Cast - First class. Bharath and Sandhya both acted like pros although they are pretty new. Actually this is Sandhya’s first film...but we never feel that way. The little boy deserves special mention. He was cute and funny. Nice to see some new faces in tamil Loved the cast. Perfect casting. Bharath and Sandhya were excellent choices. Nice to see a south Indian looking heroine! Loved the realness of the cast. (9/10)
5) Comedy & Dance - There was comedy here and there, so its not really big in this movie. The attempts at comedy in second half somewhat failed. But in the first half with the kid, it was nice (2/5) Dance - As usual in tamil movies, dances were high quality. (4/5) (7/10)
6) Touching scenes - There were some of them and were nicely done. I loved the scene when Bharath gets angry at Sandhya and she can’t stop thinking about it. Some of the scenes in the city and the bus were great. (3/5) Rewatchabilty - Once or twice - 3/5 (6/10)
7) Camera work - generally good. 4/5
Settings - Loved the realism, the dirtiness. 5/5 for keeping it real.
8) Thrills - not much. (1/5) Feel Good? - Not feel good, but feel satisfied. (2/5)
9) Overall feel of movie - Great. (4/5)
Morals? - Yes. How it is much more important to realize one’s position in society and comeup in life before jumping into stupidity based on emotions. (3/5)
10) Violence? - Few. A wife beating husband and preclimax violence. -1
Vulgarity - None. Certain scenes which could’ve been dirty are nicely done. (+2)
Total = 63/100