Just a few years ago, Ajith, Vijay and Prashanth were considered the threesome leading Tamil cinema into the next generation. But while Ajith and Vijay have managed to maintain their standing inspite of uneven careers, Prashanth has been relegated to a distant third in standings with no substantial hit in recent times. His latest movie Jai is likely to make his position worse. Remade from the Telugu Aadi, it is filled with everything that marks a bad movie - an unrealistic college setting, a weak romance, an over-the-top villain and loads of violence.

Veerapandi(Thyagarajan), who returns to his village after several years, is all set to donate his lands to the poor villagers. But Vajravelu(Rajan.P.Dev), his brother-in-law, brutally kills him and his wife(Banupriya) after gaining ownership of the lands. Veerapandi's son Jai(Prashanth) is saved by Nallamuthu(Rajkiran), another villager, who brings him up in Chennai. Jai falls in love with Nandhini(Anshu Ambani), his collegemate. He soon learns about the brutal murders of his parents and returns to the village to take revenge.

Tamil films have always had a dismal record when it comes to portraying college life but Jai's sequences in the college appear to be a new low. It contains all the usual elements like guys too old to be studying in colleges, skimpily-clad girls and a headmaster, present solely to be made fun of. Realism is non existent with scenes like Anshu walking in and kissing Prashanth while a class is in progress while the comedy is painfully unfunny and vulgar. We also get fight between the students of the two colleges though the lack of an inter-college dance competition comes as a surprise (thank god for small mercies!).

The romance between Prashanth and Anshu doesn't offer any respite either and is marked by the same silliness accompanying the rest of the movie. While Prashanth's denial of being in love with her is neither charming nor clever, her reactions to this are over the top. And at his house, we are treated to another overflow, this time of sentiments, between Prashanth and Rajkiran with cliched statements like "Only the food my uncle makes is filled with love!"

We heave a huge sigh of relief when Rajkiran reveals the past since it offers up the hope that there will be some movement in the story once Prashanth gets to the village. But our hopes are soon dashed to the ground and instead, the only thing we get is an increase in the absence of logic. Prashanth's promise to not do anything until Vijayadhasami is obvious as a tactic to pad the running time and until that day comes, we are treated to repetitive fights between him and Rajan.P.Dev's goons. Rajan.P.Dev's initial actions and words work well in making him heartless and cruel but the director then goes overboard towards the end with his actions(like stripping his wife in front of a servant and biting his enemies) making no sense.

The attempts to make Prashanth appear heroic have backfired and the actions like the slow introduction, the act of slapping his thigh and the frequent slow-motion shots only serve to irritate us. He comes alive in the fight sequences but the few scenes where he attempts to act seem over-the-top. Anshu, with her soft look, is a misfit for the glamorous, vivacious Nandhini. Rajkiran plays his role with dignity as usual while Rajan.P.Dev is his usual self. Thyagarajan and Banupriya appear in small cameos. Laddoo... is catchy but both the lyrics and visuals are obscene.