# Kaali (2018 film)
**Kaali** (காளி) is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, starring [Vijay Antony](https://www.edgepedia.org/vijay-antony), Anjali, Sunaina, Amritha Aiyer, and Shilpa Manjunath in the lead roles.[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/6422/2018-kaali) It was produced by Fatima Vijay Antony under the banner Vijay Antony Film Corporation, with music composed by Vijay Antony, cinematography by Richard M. Nathan, and editing by Lawrence Kishore.[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/6422/2018-kaali) The film was released in India on 18 May 2018.[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/6422/2018-kaali)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, her second film after *Vanakkam Chennai* (2013)[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/6422/2018-kaali) • [2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/gender-doesnt-matter-in-this-profession-kiruthiga-udhayanidhi/articleshow/62725038.cms) |
| Release | 18 May 2018 (India), Tamil language, censor certificate U[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/6422/2018-kaali) • [3](https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kaali/kaali-review.html) |
| Lead cast | Vijay Antony, Anjali, Sunaina, Amritha Aiyer, Shilpa Manjunath[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/6422/2018-kaali) |
| Premise | An Indian doctor in the US, haunted by a recurring nightmare, learns he is adopted and travels to India to find his biological parents[4](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/478473-kaali) |
| Multiple roles | Vijay Antony plays the doctor Kaali (Bharath) plus a thief, a church father, and a village head in flashback subplots[5](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2018/may/19/kaali-review-strange-writing-in-a-film-that-tests-your-patience-1816489.html) |
| Music | Composed by Vijay Antony; lyrics by Madhan Karky and Vivek Velmurugan; songs released for free download in January 2018[3](https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kaali/kaali-review.html) • [2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/gender-doesnt-matter-in-this-profession-kiruthiga-udhayanidhi/articleshow/62725038.cms) |
| Reception | IMDb rating 7.6/10 from about 4,200 votes; critics rated it 2.5/5 (Times of India), 2.0/5 (Behindwoods), and 1.5/5 (The New Indian Express)[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7822440/ratings/) • [7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/kaali/movie-review/64219263.cms) • [3](https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kaali/kaali-review.html) • [5](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2018/may/19/kaali-review-strange-writing-in-a-film-that-tests-your-patience-1816489.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and structure
The story follows Bharath, also known as Kaali, a cardiologist living in the United States who is disturbed by a recurring nightmare, learns he is adopted, and comes to India to find his biological parents.[3](https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kaali/kaali-review.html) • [4](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/478473-kaali) During the search he meets various people, and the question of who his parents are, and whether they are alive, drives the plot.[3](https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kaali/kaali-review.html)
The film is built around three flashback subplots in which Vijay Antony plays, besides the doctor, a thief, a church father, and a local village head; in the theatrical cut those roles are also credited to Nasser, Jayaprakash, and Madhusudhan Rao respectively.[5](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2018/may/19/kaali-review-strange-writing-in-a-film-that-tests-your-patience-1816489.html) Pre-release coverage suggested Antony was playing a dual role, a village ruffian and a doctor.[9](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/previews/kaali/articleshow/64189512.cms) [Yogi Babu](https://www.edgepedia.org/yogi-babu) plays Kaali's sidekick Gopi, and his comic one-liners were singled out by reviewers as a relief within the drama.[3](https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kaali/kaali-review.html) • [10](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/kaali-movie-review-vijay-anthony-5182103/)
## Production
Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi announced the project as her second directorial after *Vanakkam Chennai* (2013).[8](https://tamilar.wiki/w/%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B3%E0%AE%BF_%282018_%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D%29) In March 2017, Vijay Antony agreed to act in, produce, and compose music for the film, and shooting began in 2017.[8](https://tamilar.wiki/w/%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B3%E0%AE%BF_%282018_%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D%29) In a February 2018 interview, Udhayanidhi said Antony heard the story, loved it, and immediately agreed to act and produce; he also suggested the title, because her original script already had a character named Kaali.[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/gender-doesnt-matter-in-this-profession-kiruthiga-udhayanidhi/articleshow/62725038.cms) She described the film as a village-based story treated commercially, containing drama, romance, action, and an element of suspense, and called it an action family drama.[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/gender-doesnt-matter-in-this-profession-kiruthiga-udhayanidhi/articleshow/62725038.cms) Antony, who had grown up in a village setting, gave inputs on that material during pre-production.[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/gender-doesnt-matter-in-this-profession-kiruthiga-udhayanidhi/articleshow/62725038.cms) The film's songs were made available for free download, a measure the director connected with tackling piracy.[2](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/gender-doesnt-matter-in-this-profession-kiruthiga-udhayanidhi/articleshow/62725038.cms)
## Reception
The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics while drawing a comparatively high audience score on IMDb, where it held a 7.6/10 rating from about 4,200 votes, with an unweighted mean of 9.1.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7822440/ratings/) M Suganth of *The Times of India* gave 2.5 out of 5, writing that the film gets interesting in its second half but that the narration should have been tighter.[7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/kaali/movie-review/64219263.cms) The Behindwoods Review Board rated it 2.0/5, calling it a template sentimental drama that does not emotionally connect, while praising Richard M. Nathan's cinematography and the feel-good ending.[3](https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kaali/kaali-review.html) Ashameera Aiyappan of *The Indian Express* gave 2 stars, describing the film as an aggregation of different shades of estranged love that needed more depth in its characters.[10](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/kaali-movie-review-vijay-anthony-5182103/) A review in *The New Indian Express* gave 1.5/5 and criticized the flashback structure, in which Antony's character appears as his likely father romancing his mother, calling the writing strange and the device a way to showcase the lead actor in multiple getups.[5](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2018/may/19/kaali-review-strange-writing-in-a-film-that-tests-your-patience-1816489.html)
A full version of the film was uploaded to YouTube in September 2018 by United India Exporters and had accumulated over 3.5 million views.[11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbUjHEGm2yM)
## References
1. [Kaali (2018) – TamilMDb](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/6422/2018-kaali)
2. [Gender doesn't matter in this profession: Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi – The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/gender-doesnt-matter-in-this-profession-kiruthiga-udhayanidhi/articleshow/62725038.cms)
3. [Kaali (aka) Kali review – Behindwoods](https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/kaali/kaali-review.html)
4. [Kaali (2018) – The Movie Database](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/478473-kaali)
5. ['Kaali' review: Strange writing in a film that tests your patience – The New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2018/may/19/kaali-review-strange-writing-in-a-film-that-tests-your-patience-1816489.html)
6. [Kaali (2018) – Ratings – IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7822440/ratings/)
7. [Kaali Movie Review {2.5/5} – The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/kaali/movie-review/64219263.cms)
8. [காளி (2018 திரைப்படம்) – தமிழர்விக்கி](https://tamilar.wiki/w/%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B3%E0%AE%BF_%282018_%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D%29)
9. [Kaali preview – The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/previews/kaali/articleshow/64189512.cms)
10. [Kaali movie review – The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/kaali-movie-review-vijay-anthony-5182103/)
11. [Kaali | Tamil Full Movie – YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbUjHEGm2yM)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Tamil films of the 2010s › Tamil action and thriller films of the 2010s › Titles symbols to K*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license