Raayan is an action thriller film written and directed by Dhanush, in his second directorial venture. The film is produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures. The film was officially announced in January 2023 under the tentative title D50 as it is Dhanush’s 50th film as a leading actor.
Dhanush’s most successful films have always had a specific formula and of late the prototype of his recent hits have more or less followed a set pattern. Now with his decision to direct himself, Dhanush takes the innocuous route in writing a bundle of plots into a story that we have seen and consumed for decades. There are some films of Rajnikanth that he has generously borrowed from and given it his own drawl. The film begins interestingly, though the screenplay’s obviousness keeps the passion down. The frames, the scenes and at places even the dialogues are mundane. The first half is fairly engaging and in the interval the discussion among the audience was mostly about how the movie would end. With the audience prepared for such an anticipatable outcome, Dhanush doesn’t surprise as he offers a very typical commercial masala that is bereft of logic in the second half. Ill-conceived emotional bonding and impulsive reactions to important decisions make the narrative feel half-baked. The song towards the climax is a bummer, while the climax feels forced and as contrived as a few actor’s speeches during the audio launch of their films.
Dhanush can sleep walk in roles such as these and he does exactly that. Sundeep Kishan and Kalidas Jayaram are effective. Tushara delivers again with a good performance. Selvaraghavan is neat. It is a relief to see Surya in an unanimated role. Prakash Raj is his boring usual self.
Om Prakash’s cinematography manages to create some intensity in the scenes. With rain as the background in many scenes, the scenes manage to create some buzz and anticipation. ARR gets off the pedestal that he is usually accustomed to and delivers a Sam CS, Santhosh Narayan kind of background score and songs. Perhaps he has understood what works in TFI. Dialogues are standard and editing by GK Prasanna is well-ordered. Dhanush in the direction department plays it safe.
RAAYAN has nothing but violence, violence and violence and hence aptly certified A !!
RAAYAN – RATTHAM !!
B.U.Shreesha
