Rajathandhiram - Watchable!

Rajathandhiram - Value for money!

Cast – Regina Cassandra as Michelle D’Mello, Veera Bahu as Arjun Parthiban – Darbuka Shiva as Austin D’Costa , Pattiyal K.Shekar as Kanchi Azhagappan, Aadukalam Naren – Dharma Proprietor - Sukra Finance, Ilavarasu as Sethu Madhavan, Ajai Prasath as Devaraaj Sarathy and many more

& Crew – Direction – A.G.Amid, Music – G.V. Prakash Kumar, B.G Score – Sandeep Chowda, Edit – Praveen Antony 

Produced by – Sunland Cinemas, White Bucket Productions, Distributed by – Fox Star Studios

Premise:This film is a fairly engaging thriller based on a fairly simple and repeated story line; 

3 con men (Veera,Darbuka Shiva && Ajay Prasath) want to make it rich. They set themselves certain guidelines; not to undertake too risky a job and work under their own odd moralistic  principles. They don't mind conning and cheating people for small sums of money but are keen to make a fortune and settle down in life but want to do it on their own terms. The film starts on a FB * mode when Dharma a proprietor of a finance company 'Sukra' finance (Naren) is arrested for cheating people.The film then moves on to the three protagonists in the act of conning an innocent guy by selling a motorbike and stealing the bike back after the guy makes the payment. While on one of their con jobs the trio meets the heroine (Regina Cassandra)whom all three of them initially fall for. But finally Veera pursues and wins her love her by aiding & supporting her  in a chain marketing venture. Their love for each other blossoms. Though Veera develops a deep sympathy for her when he hears her sob story of her father who commits suicide after losing a large some of money etc etc. (FB LINK*) At this point in time the get wind of a con job which involves relieving some black money from a carrier for a large fee. At the same time they are summoned by their friend a forger  ; who wants them to help Naren (FB LINK*) to rob a leading jeweller (Pattiyal K Shekar). They find it too risky so refuse instead decide to take up the black money job; as Veera wants to help his lady love by earning some money inspite of the great risk involved. In spite of meticulous planning they botch up the job and also lose a bag filled with gold biscuits. They then realize that it is their friend the forger & Naren who actually tip the black money gang and almost put their lives in peril. Here is where the story goes on a moralistic ride which sort of slows down the excitement which was there till the interval. 

Post interval the trio in their effort to get back at Naren tip the jewellery shop owner which almost ends up killing Naren. On hearing the heart rendering story (Kamal's Mahanadhi) of Naren they all feel guilty of their act and decide to pull of a heist on the jeweller and frame the black money gang of the heist.

& the climax is all about the planning and execution of the heist(Oceans eleven/Mankatha etc) and whether the trio escape the Jeweller,the black money gang and the law or not!

What worked for me - 1. The screen play of the hotel and the car park skirmish scenes including the scanner and the mistaken bag scenario 2. The coordination of the stunt scenes and the camera work 3. The trio's decent portrayal of their assigned roles. My friend Darbuka Shiva's performance a nice addition to the premise. Why? friend! Because Darbuka Shiva played a cameo role in my TV serial Chandra 4. The heist was a poor version of a hollywood TV serial but passable. 5. The director's honest attempt to improve the narration and screen play. 6. The BG worked most of the time 7. Avoiding mush and masala. 

What did not work for me - 1. The background of the trio was not properly established 2. The weak characterization of the female lead irked me. 3. The planning of the heist was more exciting than it's execution 4. Except for the portrayal of the trio Portrayal of the Police, Jeweller, the Black money gang, it's leader, the heroine and every other character, which means every one of the 'aam aadmi' were made to look like looked like dumb idiots of the first order. 5. The unfinished story of the love/friendship between the hero and the heroine 6. The highly moralistic ending which simply failed the very premise of the story; Rob the rich of their ill gotten wealth! 7. Finally the dialogues were stale and repetitive; the comedy dialogues were too far and few.

What could have been done to better the film; think about it after u watch the film - 1. One among the waiting cops could have been sent inside disguised as an 'Aadiyal' and one from among the black money gang could have been sent inside disguised as a policeman. This would have created a bit of tension among the trio and  a lot of laughs for the viewers. 2. The trio should have gone scot free and probably donated the ill gotten money to a number of charitable organization. 3. The execution of the heist should have been more taut and gripping; not like having breakfast at Sangeetha!

Bottom line -  An old premise strengthened by clever screen play that makes this film watchable!

'Yawn' QuOtient! - Narrative in the beginning introducing the characters etc....

Finally a quote - There are more movies that suck; If one or two are watchable thank ur luck!

P.S . A question to the director - What is the significance of the big sounding names to all the characters with surname etc ;Michelle D’Mello, Arjun Parthiban, Austin D’Costa , Kanchi Azhagappan,

My Rating- 3/5

Until Next Time,

Director Haricharan

14/3/2015

Chennai