Raayan review: Dhanush's 50th film is a rollercoaster of emotions

Cast: Dhanush, SJ Suryah, Dushara Vijayan, Sundeep Kishan, Kalidas Jayaram, Aparna Balamurali, Prakash Raj, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Saravanan, Dileepan

Director: Dhanush

Music director: AR Rahman

Rating- 3/5

Raayan is Dhanush's 50th film as an actor and his return to direction seven years after his debut directorial Pa Paandi. There understandably was a certain hype around the film over the Dhanush- AR Rahman combination and the ensemble cast. Does the film manage to live up to the hype?

The story opens in a village in Tamil Nadu where four children Kaathavaraayan (Dhanush), Muthuvelraayan (Sundeep Kishan), Manickavelraayan (Kalidas Jayaram) and Durga (Dushara Vijayan) are abandoned by their parents. When the village priest plans to sell Durga off, Kaathavaraayan kills him and flees the village with his three younger siblings. They reach Chennai on a vegetable van and is found by Sekar (Selvaraghavan), who gives Kaathavaraayan a job at his vegetable shop, and finds them a place to stay. Fast forward to present day, Kaathavaraayan aka Raayan runs a fast-food restaurant and looks after his siblings. Muthuvelraayan is the odd one out in the family, who picks fights with local goons and is seen sloshed most of the time in a local bar. He hits a thug, who is one of the henchmen of Durai (Saravanan), a local gangster. Durai asks Raayan to meet him only to reveal that Raayan, who is keeping a low profile, too has a dark past.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Sethu (SJ Suryah), a second-generation rival to Durai. Another interesting character is Sargunam (Prakash Raj), a smart cop who fuels the fire between Sethu and Durai's gang. Raayan and his brothers end up in the web of murders.

The first half is gripping with Rahman's background score elevating the narration, and Raayan packs a punch with riveting performances from all these actors. The interval block makes us believe that Dhanush's directional skills are exceptional.

The second half begins dramatically with SJ Suryah and Dhanush's faceoff and we are looking forward to how Dhanush will make use of the world he has built. There is revenge, betrayal and drama. But wait, where is this all heading to? There is a lot of violence and bloodshed even though the story gets a bit slower towards the climax.

The onus is on Dhanush to lift the film with an out-of-the-box ending. But Raayan keeps treading the predictable path that the audience have been consuming over the years in the form of mass masala template. The world seems to fall apart in the violence, and endings to characters seem unjustified. However, Raayan manages to go a full circle with an emotional ending. Dhanush succeeds here as a director, as he knows how the emotions always strike a chord with the audience.

Apart from Dhanush, Dushara Vijayan could rightly be called another hero of the film with the way she has carried such a role with a lot of heft. She has played a character with different shades with ease. This is so far her biggest role of her career. Sundeep Kishan follows her with an array of emotions and is a surprise package when it comes to performance.

AR Rahman's BGM is pretty much on the lines of the narration - great in the first half and a bit lopsided in the second. Om Prakash's visuals are stunning as he has brought the flavour of North Chennai well on screen. Art director Jackie is another hero behind the camera. His sets of North Chennai in a studio on ECR is a job well done. In fact, he has put in the same effort as Dhanush and helped him create the world of Raayan in a convincing manner.

Overall, the film is a roller coaster ride and is a one-time watch. It would definitely be embraced by those who have always loved commercial entertainers with a lot of action and bloodshed.