Wow...was the expression when the movie ended. Had I taken all the negative reviews seriously I would have missed a great movie. Only a seasoned director like Mani Ratnam can give such a beautiful film. After watching Kadal one can see why Mani Ratnam is a huge name in Indian cinema. If you have come to a conclusion that I am a huge Mani fan you are absolutely wrong. But this movie has changed my opinion about him. I was really really disappointed about some of his previous outing. At the same time I have not forgotten some of his great works like Agni Nakshatram, Mouna Ragam, Keethangali and Alaipayuthey. I like this Mani a lot not the one who made movies like Ravanan. I am well aware that this movie is not well received by his fans. But if you go by their reaction you are certainly going to miss a fantastic work.Everyone in his crew has given their best shot including the new comers Gowtham and Thulasi. And what a powerful comeback for Arvindsamy. For Arjun it s a very different role as he has never tried negative characters in his film career I guess. Ponvannan is amazing as always. I don't need to say much about the technicians as Mani Ratnam would hire only the best in the industry. Beautiful camera, beautiful locations and some beautiful songs. So drink Kadal sip by sip.

I do not understand some critics do not like this movie. This movie was prefect. The cast in this movie was amazing. Even a small role was realistic. I never seen Arjun act this realistic. He really acts like a real devil. The ending visual effects was amazing. It was a experience like the actors were there. The music was once brought back by A.R Rahman. His music always bring us happiness and it does it again in this movie. The background music was again amazing. The Cinematography was good. The camera starts in a very amazing angle. The story was one of the amazing story ever. The story looks like a real man's life. Overall, Kadal is a realistic movie. The story,Cinematography, the cast and the music are amazing.Final verdict:10/10

I am a huge fan of Mani Rathnam and it is normal for me to watch his movies more than once, usually there are more than one element that requires a second watch to cherish -- music, cinematography, abstract narration, short yet sharp dialogues, rather bold characters etc. I wanted to get out of the theater during the intermission on kadal. Mani Rathnam, to me, is great at telling white collar perspective stories-- mounaragam, roja, uiyre, bombay, Kannathil Mutham Ittal etc or at telling the story of the under dog -- dalapathi, nayakan etc. He sucks at capturing the slum atmosphere -- or may he depicts it to perfection that you cannot enjoy it. This movie to me fell under the category, it failed miserably to get me excited about the characters or the story line. Sujatha was badly missed, apparently the crisp dialogues was his contribution and was missing completely. I have a sad feeling that Mani Rathnam might be heading for spiral down like Barathyraja in his latter days. I hope I am terribly wrong.

Awesome songs, good photography skills & good actors alone cannot make a good movie. The story misses good script, editing & timing for launching the songs. Once again A.R Rahman delivers his part, but Mani fails to show it on the screen. Now I see Mani going along the lines of RGV, once a talented director & now you would not bother to watch any of his movies. First Ravan & now Kadal. Small time directors are making better movies, so what's so special about watching a Mani Ratnam movie?People watch big budget movies for good entertainment, value for money, to get a break from the horrible week's routine. After watching such a movie you realize that spending 3 hrs of time with your family or at work would have been more productive. Sorry Mani, I had great expectation from this movie, all I can say is that this movie deserves 1 star for your Direction abilities. Had it been a first timer or a new director I would have given 5 stars out of 10. Pls don't waste your precious time to watch this crap.