that is a question for only you to answer. if one says yes it is their opinion. if one says no it is what works for them and not necessarily yourself. try it and find out =) there are as many paths to god as there are individuals.

It depends. Lalitha and Kali are two different manifestations of the Goddess. Lalitha is considered to be one of the Highest of Goddesses containing the power of all other Goddeses according to Shri Vidya. The Lalitha Saharanama includes a vast variety of names for the Goddess, and many of them are also epithets of Kali. They are not the same, but according to Shri Vidya, Lalitha is the power and shakti of every goddess, and her male aspect (commonly reffered to as a consort). It all depends on what you Guru tells you to do. I personally believe you shouldn't chant the names of any deity unless you have been throroughly trained in how to chant it properly, and how to do preparations for it. For example many perform nyasas and say certain preambles before reciting any sahasranamas, stotrams, etc. It also depends on if you are doing it as sadhana or just doing it as bhakti/devotion. Devotion does not have the kind of rigorous formulae that tantra and sadhana does. Bhakti should always just be an outpouring of intense emotion and love for a deity. Where as a Sadhana is an intense rigorous formulae to absorb a diety.