Kalakalappu

Kalakalappu  is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by Sundar C. and produced by his wife Khushbu. It stars Vimal, Shiva, Oviya, Anjali and Santhanam, with music composed by Vijay Ebenezer. It was originally titled Masala Cafe, but was later renamed to Kalakalappu. The film released on 11 May 2012 to positive reviews, and became a commercial success. The film is 25th directorial venture for Sundar. The film was remade in Telugu as Jump Jilani. In 2018, the film had a spiritual successor Kalakalappu 2. The film is loosely based on the 2009 German film Soul Kitchen.

Plot
Seenu runs the Kumbakonam-based Masala Café, inherited from his forefathers. Masala Café was a famous food outlet a few decades back, but has lost its prominence, and now Seenu finds it difficult to manage the struggling enterprise. The café's chef and his granddaughter Maya stay with Seenu.

Madhavi, the new health inspector, decides to permanently shut down Masala Café due to its unhygienic environment. Seenu requests her to give him some time so he can make his hotel regain its prominence. Slowly, Seenu and Madhavi become good friends, and love blossoms between them.

Seenu's younger brother Raghu, a thief, gets released from prison. Seenu allows Raghu to stay with him as Raghu saves him from the moneylender 'Anjuvati Alagesan' (literally 'Five-interest Alagesan'), to whom Seenu owes money. Raghu falls in love with Maya at first sight. Manickam, a jewellery owner, stages a drama to get money from insurance. Manickam sets fire to his jewellery showroom and tries to get the insured amount by claiming loss, although he has safely hidden precious diamonds in a mobile phone which is with his nephew Kumar. Kumar misplaces the mobile phone containing the diamonds, which later gets into Raghu's hands.

Police Inspector Dharamarajan, a cunning man, is a childhood friend of Seenu. A real estate developer plans to demolish Masala Café and construct a mall over there due to its prime location. But Seenu is not ready to sell his property as he prefers to own it in the memory of his family members. Dharmarajan assures to convince Seenu and make him sell the hotel and he talks a deal with the real estate developer.

Seenu, Raghu, Madhavi, and Maya come up with a plan to introduce traditional healthy food menu in Masala Café, believing that it will be liked by the present generation. Maya's grandfather gives tips about healthy ingredients, and Masala Café becomes popular again due to differentiated menu. Seenu earns more money from Masala Café.

Meanwhile, Madhavi's wedding is fixed with her relative Vettupuli in the village by her family. Seenu goes to Madhavi's village to stop the wedding and bring her back to Kumbakonam.

When Seenu is away, Dharmarajan plans to grab Masala Café as it is now managed only by Raghu, who is addicted to gambling. Dharmarajan calls Raghu for gambling, for which Raghu accepts. Dharamarajan tricks Raghu into gambling using his hotel documents. Raghu loses the game, and Dharmarajan takes over Masala Café. Seenu gets shocked knowing that Dharmarajan has betrayed them.

After a series of events, Vettupuli learns about Seenu and Madhavi's love and decides to let them marry.

Manickam tracks down that the mobile phone containing diamonds is with Raghu and comes to kill him and take back the diamonds. But Seenu and Raghu get to know about the diamonds being hidden in the mobile phone only after Manickam comes. Seenu and Raghu escape from Manickam. Manickam kidnaps Maya and Madhavi and threatens Seenu and Raghu to give back the diamonds. A fight sequence follows where Seenu and Raghu beat Manickam. In the meantime, they also grab the hotel's documents from Dharmarajan. The police restore the diamonds and arrest Dharmarajan and Manickam. Seenu unites with Madhavi and Raghu with Maya.

Production
A report in December 2010 suggested that Sundar C. would quit acting, after his films successively bombed at the box office, and concentrate on directing only. Sources confirmed that he began working on his next directorial by mid-2011, with Vimal and Shiva being roped in for the lead male roles. Anjali, Bindu Madhavi and Piaa Bajpai were considered for the lead female roles, with the former one being finalised, and Oviya was finalised as the other female lead. Vadivelu was expected to get a pivotal role in the film and make a comeback, but was later replaced by Santhanam. The title of the film was announced in mid-October, which was reported to be completed in one schedule. Sources further revealed that a "top actor" would be seen in a cameo appearance which eventually proved false. Filming began on 3 November in Kumbakonam, and the first schedule was finished on 20 November. Distribution rights were bought by UTV Motion Pictures. Majority of the film was shot in Gobichettipalayam. When the shooting was going in Gobichettipalayam in March 2012, it rained heavily but in spite of it, the shooting continued. By then filming was mostly complete with around 10 days left. The famous CKS bungalow in Gobichettipalayam was converted into Masala Cafe for the film. Sundar said that idea of Kalakalappu struck him during the shooting of Murattu Kaalai.

Soundtrack
The music is composed by Vijay Ebenezer who earlier composed for Kanden and it was his first stint at providing commercial music. It was reported that Sundar C. would turn lyricist, which later proved untrue. The Times of India had reported that Vimal had sung few lines for a song, but Vijay said "he did practice for the song, but due to time constraints, we could not record the final version with him".

Critical reception
Musicperk.com rated the album 6.5/10 quoting "The songs are good overall but not extraordinary". Behindwoods rated the album 3 out of 5 quoting "A nice collection of numbers. The focus is equally on masala and melody songs as well".

Reception
Kalakalappu opened to positive reviews from critics. The Times of India claimed that "Kalakalappu remains true to its title and is jolly good fun throughout". Sify 's critic described the film as "good fun while it lasts, with the second half better than the first". Behindwoods termed Kalakalappu as "a jolly good time". Indiaglitz wrote: "Fun unlimited, Sundar C has shown his value as a director of commercial entertainers earlier and reinforces it again with a bang with 'Kalakalappu', which sure turns out to be a summer treat". Deccan Chronicle wrote: "It's fun and funny, unpretentious and yet quite nutty!".

Rediff.com's Pavithra Srinivasan gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and stated that it did have "its funny moments but only a few of them work". In.com wrote: "Kalakalappu works only in bits and pieces!". Rohit Ramachandran of Nowrunning.com rated it 2 out of 5 stating that "Sundar C's Kalakalappu conforms to Kollywood film-making by being silly unfunny mediocre nonsense."

Box office
Kalakalappu took a big opening on release day and was declared a commercial box office success. The film was released in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in 259 screens on 11 May. The film grossed inr 590000000 in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala in the first week.

Future
A spiritual successor titled Kalakalappu 2, again directed by Sundar, was released on 9 February 2018.