Movies revolving around rowdies have a few standard templates when it comes to the storylines - good-hearted rowdies helping those in need and fighting the bad guys; small-time rowdies rising in power and stature; or rowdies remaining at the bottom of the foodchain and getting mistreated by the higher-ups. Prabu Solomon can be credited with coming up with a new idea in this genre. But he is unable to inject into the idea, enough additions to turn it into a full-fledged story. As a result, Laadam starts well but loses steam soon enough.

Kunjidhapadham(Aravind) arrives in the city to attend an interview and stays at the house of the only person he knows - one of his seniors from the orphanage he grew up in. But he gets entangled in the turf war that is going on between the two powerful rowdies in the city, Pavadaisamy(Kota Srinivasarao) and Vempuli, when Pavadaisamy's men get him instead of his senior, who owes money to one of the rowdy's men. Meanwhile Angel(Charmi), who has made a life out of housesitting in houses whose inhabitants have gone out, lands up in Kunjidhapadham's senior's house too and gets caught up in Aravind's problems.

Movies dealing with rowdies usually have the rowdy as the focus. But Laadam is different in that it shows us the plight of an innocent young man who is caught between two hostile rowdies. Unable to run away and unwilling to carry out the task he is entrusted with, he bounces between the two dadas, hoping that atleast one of them can set him free. The way he gets into his unenviable position and some of the initial situations(like his return to Kota's house after they had assumed that he was dead) that lead to him sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire are interesting. These portions invoke a curious mix of dark humor and sympathy for his situation and the combination is effective in keeping our interest.

But the storyline doesn't have any place to go once this basic plot is in place and so it begins to spin its wheels. Sequences that don't move the story forward are stretched beyond breaking point and there's a sense of deja vu as Arvind repeatedly keeps going to the bad guys and begging to be let go. There's also a point beyond which his naievete begins to look like stupidity as he keeps turning to the villains even after knowing what they are like and how they are going to respond to his entreaties. The climax is a bit unbelievable but energizes the movie since it finally offers something different from what was going on.

We're used to heroines being relegated to the role of glamorous mannequins who are on hand just for the duets, in hero-centric movies featuring big stars. Considering that Laadam has a new face as the hero and a much more familiar actress as the heroine, the redundant nature of Charmi's character comes as a bit of a surprise. She gets a good introduction and the expected meeting with Arvind happens soon enough. But she then plays no part in the proceedings and can be excluded from the movie with no impact whatsoever. Worse, she ends up being irritating since she displays no understanding of Arvind's predicament and keeps joking around and later, cons him into taking a rather big decision. So the sequences involving her, like her stints in the houses of the celebrities, bring the movie to a standstill.

Aravind fits the bill in the role of the innocent man caught in the crossfire. He is believable both when putting his foot in mouth initially and when desperately trying to find a way out of the situation. Charmi gets on our nerves with her over-energetic portrayal. She looks as though she's had too much caffeine whenever she's on screen and goes overboard with her hyperactive antics. Kota is his usual loud self while the actor playing the other dada is more restrained. Siru Thoduthalile... is a very soft, melodious number but the other songs, with their rap interludes, sound similar to one another and to the songs from Dharan's own Sivi soundtrack.