Tamil cinema usually looks to Telugu cinema for masala films to remake since audience tastes are quite similar between the two languages. The occasional remakes from Hindi, like Kanden Kaadhalai, a remake of Jab We Met, have been romances. So Osthe, a remake of Salman Khan's hit Dabangg, is a rarity – a Tamil remake of a Hindi masala film. Dabangg had all elements of a masala film and Osthe is a competent remake but it doesn't offer anything different or special for us.

Velan(Simbhu), a cop in Kattupakkam, thinks the world of his mother but is always at loggerheads with his stepdad(Nasser) and his stepbrother Balan('Jithan' Ramesh). He falls for Neduvali(Richa Gangopadhyay), the daughter of a drunkard. Velan earns the ire of Daniel(Sonu Sood), who is trying to become an MLA, when he grabs the money Daniel had earmarked for bribing the voters. With none of his plans to eliminate Velan working, Daniel wants to exploit the enmity between Velan and Balan.

With Hindi cinema primarily consisting of urban dramas, candyfloss romances and slick actioners, masala films were pretty hard to come by. In fact, films like Ghajini, Wanted and Singham, all remakes from Tamil and Telugu, were credited with reviving the genre in Hindi and making mass heroes out of Hindi leading men. So Dabangg and its over-the-top hero Salman Khan were both a change of pace for the Hindi film viewer. But that's not the case in Tamil cinema, where every hero worth his salt delivers a masala film at regular intervals. And Simbhu himself has appeared in quite a few of these films. So Osthe feels like a run-of-the-mill commercial film.

Simbhu starts off being a little interesting as he uses the money he steals from Sonu Sood for his own police station. But once he starts going up against Sonu Sood directly, all the cliches of masala cop stories find their way into the movie. Sood isn't a particularly memorable villain and his political aspirations force him to lay low for most of the movie. So even though the stunt sequences between Simbhu and Sood's men are staged well(the one at the train station is superb), the confrontations between Simbhu and Sood aren't very exciting.

The heroes in our masala films usually come from model families that shower love and affection on one another so that one or more of these family members can be exploited for sentiments or used to threaten the hero. So the situation with Simbhu on one side, Ramesh and Nasser on the other and Revathi trying to broker peace between them makes for a slightly different setting. Unfortunately, the difference doesn't amount to much. Things do get interesting as Sonu Sood gets to Ramesh but then peter out as characters experience changes of heart abruptly and without any big reason.

After his controlled turn in Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa and a matured performance in Vaanam, Simbhu is back in his elements, spouting punch dialogs in his trademark style. The police uniform doesn't look too convincing on him but the climactic fight proves that he looks better with it on rather than off. After a meaty role in Mayakkam Enna, Richa Gangopadhyay gets the chance to take it easy here. 'Jithan' Ramesh is adequate while Revathi and Nasser are solid as always. Sonu Sood is hampered by the weak characterization and hardly makes an impact. Santhanam gets the chance to make a few cracks as a constable while VTV Ganesh gets a serious role this time. While melody is hard to find, the soundtrack helps the movie with some nice numbers. Munni Badnaam Hui... was the highlight of Dabangg. Its equivalent, Kalasalaa... with Mallika Sharawat, is equally massy and catchy but the picturization is disappointing and it looks like countless other numbers set in a bar. Neduvali... is a fast, catchy duet with Simbhu's dance for the Dumeel Dhaan... part looking very impressive. Both Osthe Maame... and Unnaale... are picturized in a bright and colorful manner while Vaadi Pondatti... is a regular duet.