Dhanush’s 50th film ‘Raayan Review’ is here. It is well known that Dhanush is one of the most celebrated actors in Tamil cinema who has fan following throughout the country and abroad. For this milestone film he has also donned the director’s cap apart from playing the lead role. Lets now see if the multitalented star has done justice to the hype created.
Raayan Story
The parents of Raayan a teenage boy and three younger siblings go missing in their hometown. Their guardian a temple priest tries to the sell the infant baby girl to perverts. Raayan kills the man to save his sister and all four board a lorry to Chennai. The driver Sekhar (Selvaraghavan) helps them and they grow up as Raayan (Dhanush), Durga (Dushara Vijayan), Muthuvel (Sundeep Kishan) and Manickavel (Kalidas Jayaram) by running a mobile restaurant in North Chennai. While Raayan is strict and emotionless Muthuvel is hot headed and wayward and Manickavel studies in college aiming to become a student leader.
Muthuvel’s rash action against the henchman of local gangster Durai (Saravanan)in a bar puts his life in danger. On the other hand another gangster Sethu (S.J. Suryah) is seeking revenge against Durai for murdering his father and taking over the illegal businesses. Meanwhile the new Police Commissioner (Prakash Raj) wants to rid the area of all the anti social elements and is trying to orchestrate a gang war to make his job easy. How Raayan and his siblings are embroiled in this mess and what happens to them is told in a violent and blood splattering screenplay.
Actors Performances
Coming to the performances Dhanush has acted with subtlety in the first half and his transformation happens in the interval block that elevates the film. He has shown both emotions and rage only through his eyes and body language giving his fans goose bump moments. Hats off to him for giving equal and sometimes even more space than him to Sundeep and Dushara. Sundeep Kishan is natural as the good for nothing brother with dark shades. Kalidas Jayaram’s role is not written well enough to make an impact.
Dushara Vijayan struggles to match her shining performances in ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’ and ‘Natchathiram Nagargirathu’. The reason could be that the dialogues she is made to mouth are unnatural and bland. Aparna Balamurali who plays Sundeep Kishan’s lover is convincing with her slum dweller act but her character takes a beating by her action in the climax. S.J. Suryah as the wily wolf Sethu provides some entertainment in a few scenes especially when his first wife (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar in cameo) mocks him for his failures. Selvaraghavan as the family mentor and Prakash Raj as the commissioner have done a neat job in their respective careers.
Plusses of RAAYAN
The first plus in Raayan is the interval block scene when Raayan takes the area gangster head on and the three brothers create a blood bath. This is one of the rare fine moments where writer Dhanush is visible. The gory violence is well choreographed. The romantic moments involving Sundeep Kishan and Aparna Balamurali and the cat and mouse fun moments of S.J. Suryah and Varu bring the much needed relief.
Minuses of Raayan
The core story is old and outdated and the screenplay also lacks the energy to sustain audience interest for most parts. The sudden betrayal of two major characters is unconvincing and thanks to that the entire second half turns uninteresting. The blood soaked violence in all the fight scenes are off putting as the build up to them are hardly engaging. On the whole the writing fails in making the audience root for any of the principal characters and the result is that whatever happens on screen matters very little in the end.
Technical Aspects
A.R. Rahman’s songs in ‘Raayan’ are already hits and his background score is energetic. Om Prakash has gone for the red hue in his lighting that makes every shot pregnant with impending blood spill. G.K. Prasanna has edited the film in a slow burn pace. Sun Pictures is the producer. Dhanush, who made a huge splash as a debut director in the breezy ‘Pa Paandi’ has attempted a raw and intense gang war film. The writing is depthless in both the narration as well as the dialogues. Waiting for his third directorial ‘Nilavukku En Mel Ennadi Kobam’ to witness his signature.
Raayan Review – Final Word
‘Raayan’ will appeal to Dhanush fans and those who love watching mindless violence on screen. For general audience it will be a overstretched tiring watch.