RAAYAN – Review

Directed by: Dhanush

Produced by:Kalanithi Maran

Starring:Dhanush,S. J. Suryah,Sundeep Kishan,Kalidas Jayaram,Selvaraghavan,Prakash Raj,Dushara Vijayan,Aparna Balamurali,Varalaxmi Sarathkumar

Cinematography:Om Prakash

Edited by:Prasanna GK

Music by:A. R. Rahman

Production

company:Sun Pictures

Release date:26 July 2024

Language: Tamil

Raayan is a  Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Dhanush, in his second directorial venture. The film is produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures. It stars Dhanush in the titular role, leading an ensemble cast which includes S. J. Suryah, Prakash Raj, Selvaraghavan, Sundeep Kishan, Kalidas Jayaram, Dushara Vijayan, Aparna Balamurali, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Saravanan. The film follows Raayan, a simpleton, who gets led through the criminal underworld after seeking the murderers of his family.

Raayan is an audience favourite even before its release, marking Dhanush’s directorial venture after Pa Pandi and Dhanush’s 50th film in his career. With the presence of stars Sundeep Kishan, Kalidas Jayaram, Prakash Raj, SJ Surya, and the music of AR Rahman, the expectations got wings.

In the first half, everything works in the right way. The detailing and building up of Raayan’s world are portrayed well, and the emotional angle with family is perfect here. The romance and comic part handled Sundeep Kishan beautifully, and Aparna Balamurali supported well. The pre-interval block offers a terrific theatre experience.

After the interval, director-writer Dhanush lost the grip that makes the above-mentioned family emotion become the biggest mockery here. For the big twist When it is said to kill or attack emotionally attached family members, there should be strong reasons behind it.Otherwise, it will be a comedy. where Raayan failed miserably.The hero-villain conflict is unnecessary and irrelevant in the plot. Also, there is no big reason behind the conflict. The second half largely questions the logical IQ of an audience; also, some Arun Matheswaran types of raw stuff are turned out to be comedy here.

Technically, Raayan is good; AR Rahman’s terrific BG and ‘Usure’ beat make it memorable. Action sequences are well choreographed. camera eyes perfectly captured the streets and circumstances.

As usual, Dhanush is brilliant as Raayan. Dhushara is apt and ok with some action blocks. Sundeep Kishan nailed in the first half and suddenly disappeared from limelight in the second half. Kalidas Jayaram has a meaty role and is okay with that. sj Surya is terrific but not utilised well.

Bottomline

Routine revenge drama, let down in the 2nd half.