Kalidas was shot in Bombay on the sets of India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931) and was completed in eight days.

Despite numerous technical flaws, it received critical acclaim, with praise for Rajalakshmi's singing performance, and became a major commercial success.

In addition to its commercial success, Kalidas was a major breakthrough for Rajalakshmi's career, and made her a bankable singing star.

[3] After the success of India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931), its director Ardeshir Irani wanted to venture into South Indian cinema.

[28] Birgit Meyer contradicted Baskaran in her 2009 book Aesthetic Formations, stating that the film had Telugu songs,[29] a view that was supported by Sowmya Dechamma in Cinemas of South India: Culture, Resistance, Ideology.

[31] Although the film was based on mythology, it featured compositions from much later time periods, such as those by the Carnatic musician Tyagaraja, and Indian National Congress publicity songs.

"[14] The 2008 book Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry by Selvaraj Velayutham and Aesthetic Formations by Birgit Meyer stipulate that the nationalistic songs featured in the film had nothing to do with the main plot,[34] while Randor Guy states during that period, "Historical accuracy wasn't as important as the music.

"[35] The patriotic song "Gandhiyin Kai Rattiname" ("The Charkha that [Mahatma] Gandhi handles"), also known as "Raattinamam ... Gandhi Kai Bhanamaam ...", was sung by T. P. Rajalakshmi,[20][36] and was unrelated to the story of Kalidas; the song extolled the charkha (spinning wheel), a Gandhian symbol of nationalism.

[37] Rajalakshmi also performed two of Tyagaraja's compositions, "Enta Nerchina" and "Suraragadhara", the latter of which was based on the Sankarabharanam raga, for the film.

[d] Another song which Rajalakshmi performed, "Manmada Baanamadaa", became immensely popular, and was described by Guy as "the emotional outburst of love by the heroine".

[41] An advertisement announcing the release of Kalidas was published on 30 October 1931 in The Hindu, where it was proclaimed that the film was the "first talkie to be screened in the city with Tamil and Telugu songs".

[42][43] When the film reels were taken to Madras, thousands of people gathered at the city's central railway station and followed the reel box along Wall Tax Road to Kinema Central, throwing rose petals, breaking open coconuts, and burning incense.

[21] An earlier attempt at producing a Tamil sound film, a four-reel short (identified by S. Theodore Baskaran as Korathi Dance and Songs), was screened alongside Kalidas as a side attraction.

"[18] Kalidas was commercially successful, grossing over ₹75,000 and easily covering its budget of ₹8,000 (worth ₹1.5 crore in 2021 prices) according to a 2013 estimate by Hindu Tamil Thisai.

[3] In his 1997 book Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema, Randor Guy described Kalidas as a "crude experiment" that had poor lip sync; when characters opened their mouths there was no sound, and when dialogue or song was heard, artistes remained silent.

He praised Rajalakshmi's performance and her dancing but criticised her singing, saying that she had to go see a doctor to get her vocal cords fixed.