Raayan is a 2024 Tamil language action crime drama film written and directed by Dhanush. The film is being dubbed into Telugu with the same title. The film has Dhanush playing the lead role while SJ Suryah, Prakash Raj, Selvaraghavan, Sundeep Kishan, Kalidas Jayaram, Dushara Vijayan, Aparna Balamurali, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Saravanan, Devadarsini, Ramachandran Durairaj & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed AR. Rahman and the film is produced by Kalanithi Maran under Sun Pictures banner.
Story:
Raayan (Dhanush) is a devoted caretaker of his siblings- Muthuvelaraayan (Sundeep Kishan), Maanikyaraayan (Kalidas Jayaram), and sister Durga (Dushara Vijayan). He runs a small fast-food center to support them. Their simple life is disturbed when Muthu gets into a fight with the local Don Dorai’s (Saravanan) men, setting off a dangerous rivalry. Meanwhile, Sethu (SJ Suryah), another local gangster, steps into the fray with a deadly plan to eliminate Raayan. What is the reason for Sethu to kill Raayan? Who is Raayan and what is his true purpose? Needs to be seen in the film.
What about on-screen performances?
Dhanush is as usual terrific in the lead role as Raayan. With very limited dialogues, he keeps you hooked to the screens with his riveting performance and amazing screen presence.
SJ Suryah kills it again in a negative role. His funny antics and trademark frustration make his act more enjoyable and he is superb in the scene where he kicks the rapist.
Dushara Vijayan leaves a huge mark with her strong performance as Durga, the sister of Raayan. She gets all the high moments in the second half and she does well in all of them.
Sundeep Kishan & Kalidas Jayaram also deliver knock-out performances as the brothers of Raayan. Especially, Sundeep Kishan shines in his grey-shaded character and wins brownie points.
Aparna Balamurali is adorable in her part as the love interest of Sundeep. She is very natural and is lovable in her character.
Prakash Raj, Selvaraghavan, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Saravanan, Devadarsini and all the rest of the supporting cast do well in their respective roles.
What about off-screen talents?
The story by Dhanush is a very routine revenge drama that lacks novelty in every part of the film. Even the characterizations look half-baked and the conflict points in the film are too weak. There is no strong hook to showcase the conflict between SJ Suryah and Dhanush which is a big minus of the film.
The screenplay is slow-paced and is not up to the mark. The main reason for this is- Yes, there is hard-hitting and gruesome action in the film but the reason or the build-up to those action parts remains flat. The second half feels extremely stretched out, with unnecessary scenes that extent the run time.
Also, the character dynamics between the hero and his siblings are not at all convincing. At the start Raayan is presented as the only caretaker for his siblings but towards the end, Raayan himself takes revenge on his brothers and the reason for him to kill them is poorly presented in the film.
Dhanush excels as a director and gives the film a huge scale in terms of presentation. He extracts first-rate performances from all his actors but the routine plot line and improper emotions bring down the film big time especially in the second half. Had the writing also complimented his making, this would surely have been a memorable film in his career.
The Telugu dialogues by Hanuman Choudhary are good and the Telugu dubbing is done well.
The cinematography by Om Prakash is brilliant. He gives the film the right mood with his camera work and the lighting in the film is superbly done.
The songs by A.R. Rahman are decent but they felt unnecessary in a film like this. ‘Thala Vanchi Eragade’ & ‘Oh Raaya’ are the best songs in the album. The background score is riveting and lifts the film whenever needed.
The edit by Prasanna needed to be more crisper as almost about 10-15 minutes could’ve been easily chopped off.
The production values by Sun Pictures are grand.
What’s Hot?
* Dhanush’s Terrific Performance
* SJ Suryah’s Performance
* Dushara Vijayan’s Performance
* Sundeep Kishan & Kalidas Jayaram’s Performances
* Aparna Balamurali’s Performance
* Pre-Interval Fight Sequence
* Thala Vanchi Eragade Song & Choreography
* A.R. Rahman’s Background Score
* Cinematography & Production Values
What’s Not?
* Routine Revenge Story
* Dragged Out Screenplay
* Slow Paced & Bland Second Half
* Middling Emotions
* Improper Character Dynamics
* Too Many Loose Ends
Verdict: On the whole, Raayan is a pretty average outing from Dhanush & Team. It is definitely not a story that Dhanush had to make as his 50th film but this is a classic example of how brilliant acting from all the actors can make even a routine story watchable on big screens.
Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2.5/5