Ram(Jai) has finished college but whiles away his time with friends without looking for a job. Sridhar, who comes from a conservative Brahmin family, is his close friend. Ram falls in love with Priya(Vidhu), Sridhar's sister and soon learns the feeling is mutual. When news of the romance comes out, Priya faces staunch opposition from her family while a wedge is driven between Ram and Sridhar too.

The way the movie starts leads us to believe that Kaalaatpadai too is set to traverse the same path laid out by several recent movies. As the hero and his friends smoke, drink, make fun of elders and tease girls, the dread that sets in is unavoidable for anyone who has sat through movies like Gummaalam and Jjunction . But the movie has a surprise in store once the romance is brought in. Though not consistently cute( the bit where he asks her to figure out what he wrote on her eyelids is one of the few 'cute' scenes) and being a little too quick to be entirely believable, it has its strongpoints. It has some enjoyable wordplays between Jai and Vidhu and is surprisingly clean. The fact that the romance transforms Jai is also welcome.

The single factor that elevates this movie from mediocrity is the script. Almost everyone in the movie speaks sensibly and the dialogs sparkle with rare intelligence. Unlike Thamizh , the last movie that stood out because of the strength of its script, the cleverness of the script here shines through in regular, day-to-day conversations and not comic wordplays or proverbs. Be it Radharavi's advice or Vidhu's admonitions to Jai, the words coming out of the characters' mouths make a lot of sense and are practical. And 'Thalaivasal' Vijay's words of advice to the guys when he relates his own story contains so many little gems(I absolutely loved the line about life being a station and the three-liner about one's parents and issues wowed me).

As in most movies involving the Brahmin community, this movie too tries to derive comic effect by exaggerating their actions and accents. But it does not take it too far and desists from making them complete caricatures. Vidhu is a very strong character who believes in and supports her tradition and her comebacks to Jai when he teases her about her family's mode of speaking are intelligent. Even Radharavi makes some nice points about the differences in the way of life of the two families at the end. The climax reminds us of another superhit movie but is still short and sweet.

Jai is tall and well-built but is not particularly handsome. Emoting is not one of his strongpoints either. Vidhu is excellent in her role. While the initial scenes revolving around the blooming romance make us doubt her acting abilities, she comes into her own as the movie proceeds. Her confrontations with her family are convincing and she hits the right notes whether in the romance or the advices to Jai. The actor playing Sridhar too performs well, especially during the outburst after learning about the romance. Bharadwaj's slow songs are melodious while the fast songs offer nothing new.