The film stars Prashanth and Anshu, while the former's father Thiagarajan, along with Rajkiran, Bhanupriya, and Rajan P. Dev play supporting roles.

[4] The team then approached Preity Zinta, though the actress was unwilling to commit to star in a Tamil film during the period.

[5][6] Subsequently, the team signed on London based actress Anshu Ambani, who had appeared in the Telugu films Manmadhudu (2002) and Raghavendra (2003).

[8] The film was briefly put on hold while Prashanth considered starting another project titled Soldier, but plans were shelved and Jai progressed.

[13][14] A critic from Sify called the film "tedious" and added that "all the hype about Jai being big budget extravaganza seems out of place as the story is as old as the hills.

"[15] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote, "More attention seems to have been paid to the glamour element and the picturisation of the dance numbers than on the rest of the film".

[16] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu revealed "the ballyhoo for many a scene including the opening one is puzzling because it gives the impression that something big is to follow suit, but nothing of that sort happens".

[17] G. Ulaganathan of Deccan Herald said Prashanth "has done justice to his role", but criticised the excessive violence and clichéd plot, and director Narayan "made an appreciable effort".

[19] M Bharat Kumar of News Today wrote "The lavishly- made movie lacks depth in screenplay and the scenes unfold rather quickly leaving the audience clueless on the story".