Raayan: Toughened Demonic Angel

Star Cast: Dhanush, Sandeep Kishan, Kalidasu Jairam, Dushara Vijayan, Aparna Balamurali, SJ Suryah, Saravanan 
Music Composed by A R Rahman 
Cinematography by Om Prakash 
Edited by GK Prasanna
Directed by Dhanush 

Before deep diving into our analysis, the friendships that we make, the kind gestures we do, the mistakes we commit, the manners we present, the emotions we express, the bad deeds we did/done/might do, the needlessness of several jobs, the intermittent joys, the existential sorrows, the perpetual fears, the helplessness situations everything has great karmic effect throughout our lives. I am not trying to instill fear or lessen your will to live, just stating the facts. After watching Raayan, I felt that the strength of the karmic effect on anybody’s life is substantial and explicably indeterminable. As you read further, you understand why I felt so. Hopefully, you might also feel the same.

Before getting into spoilers, a director’s brilliance lies in how well he or she extracts work from the ensemble of actors and technical crew. You might have heard about an inspired Ilaiyaraaja giving tunes and a director writing a story for them. In the same way, an inspired AR Rahman delivered hit after hit without any discrepancy for the director or production house. Now, he reached a level where his involvement in a project brings exponential buzz to it. Still, he needs inspiration to really work out of his “comfort” zone to deliver his best. He did a great job for the 50th film of Dhanush. Also, Om Prakash’s visuals and GK Prasanna’s cuts add to the vision of the writer-director. Sound editing, mixing, production design, and VFX work did their bit for the movie to shine.

Proceed with Care: Spoilers Lurk Below 

The Mythological angle: 

With names like Karthavaraayan [Dhanush] and Sethuraman [SJ Suryah], it’s easy to draw connections to the reversed Raayan [Ravana] vs. Ram story from the Ramayana. However, it’s important to note that Ram never needlessly challenged Ravana, nor did he engage in battles with other kings over territories. Surpanaka’s unnecessary provocation of Sita led to complications. Additionally, Ram never had two wives or attempted to deceive anyone. Well, we can argue that this is not a retelling but an interpretation from Ravana’s angle, the story focuses on Ravana’s conquest of Lanka from Kubera and his subsequent battle with Indra. The double standards exhibited by Sethu resonate with Indra, while Kubera’s mother’s humiliation of Kakasi [Ravana’s mother].

Driven by vengeance, Ravana seized control of Lanka, and Kubera sought help from Indra. This transformation turned Ravana into a formidable and feared warrior, the Demon King. If Ram were absent from the scene, Narada would likely have exacerbated the animosity between Devas and Asuras tenfold. Only when Ravana had grown immensely powerful did Lord Vishnu consider eliminating him. Therefore, if there is a sequel, we might anticipate the true entry of Ram or an equivalent figure into Raayan’s story. Unspoken but evident, Kumbhakaran [Sundeep Kishan] and Vibhishan [Kalidas Jayaram] both grappled with Ravana’s methods. While Surpanaka [Dushara Vijayan] wholeheartedly embraced her flawed brother, Kumbhakaran saw him as misguided, leading to his curse from Brahma. Vibhishan, on the other hand, struggled with Ravana’s ego and his willingness to commit adharma for their sister.

The Cinematic Angle:

A director’s brilliance lies in staging, blocking, and the choice of shots, as well as camera placement. Dhanush showcased his mettle with Pa. Paandi [2017], but in this film, he skillfully allowed his characters breathing space and even crafted “mass theatre moments” for his fans. He seamlessly integrated all these elements within the premise. Muthu, equivalent of Kumbhakaran, didn’t quite see eye-to-eye with his elder brother. His curse was to be carefree and careless, making it challenging for him to conform to anyone’s dictates. Despite being a formidable warrior, Kumbhakaran always remained in Ravana’s shadow.

Simultaneously, Vibhishana grappled with the fear of annihilation and humiliation. Although he desired righteousness [dharma] to prevail, his fear of aligning with the wrong side led him to backstab his own brother. In contrast, Manickyam obediently followed every command, lacking a compelling reason to harbor hatred. Yet, the fear of “ending up on the wrong side” drove him to commit a cardinal sin. In this version, Raayan is an angel, actually, until he became a sex pervert due to his boons, Ravana was also an angel; a great devotee, and a scholar of the highest order. Now, Kartavaraayan is actually an angel for his brothers and sister. While his sister recognizes this, his brothers perceive him solely as a dictator. When you have someone angelic in your life but you push them away mistaking them as a Demon, you end up submitting your soul to the Devil. Dhanush conveys this message in a visceral and mass-oriented style.

Here the problem again lies with his writing. It tries to be innovative and at the same time sticks to basics. He pushes the envelope yet stays in the genre basic brackets. Take Vada Chennai [2018], Vetrimaaran did not make his characters angels or demons, he made them all bad people and showcased some good qualities in the main protagonists. He gave time for the twists to build. Dhanush while looked heavily inspired with his style, went for shock value than convincing the twist. All the essential beats exist, but their timing feels off. There is a rush to keep things engaging in the second hour while the first hour has its own pace. Vetrimaaran doesn’t rush and has ample time to bring the necessary emotion into motion. The writing could have also been better with Dushara Vijayan’s character. Would have loved to see her revolting before getting raped when someone tried to touch her, being Raayan’s sister.

Such a touch like “Rajan’s Pondatti da Naa – Nenu Rajan pellanni ra” from Vada Chennai, here “Raayan oda thangachi Naa – Raayan Chelli Durga ni raa” would have landed better with the established characters and setting. While the sequence followed is good, it did not add any kind of spice to the drama. It just extended everything. That’s actually a persistent and consistent problem with this screenplay. Things get a little bit extended for the sake of being”unique” and “different” while in the end they are regular. Adding such spicy touches might have innovated the writing and film, a bit more. Well, even with such flaws, Dhanush managed to engage, but failed in giving a compelling emotional punch.

Really felt for Sundeep Kishan, as his “Telugu” film persona is different from “Tamil” and the Telugu one is cremating his talent into an unfriendly “mass abyss”. Love the Tamil one, maybe it should come to Telugu, too. Aparna Balamurali, Dushara Vijayan, Selvaraghavan, SJ Suryah, and everyone got a chance to leave their mark. Dhanush as a writer-director showcased far more maturity and clarity than we expect from a star-actor turned director. It’s neither about “mass moments” for him nor about “his image”. The story comes first to him, it’s almost like “Usure nee thane (Praname Nuvve)”, a tribute from him to the cinema that gave him everything. Indeed, Dhanush’s dilemma lies in adhering to cliches, preventing him from fully realizing his ambition to be the lion he aspires to. Instead, he remains one among the wolf pack, let down by the very ambition that initially propelled him forward.

Theatrical Trailer:

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