R ARIVANANTHAM
Sankara Narayanan (Ramarajan), an Ex-serviceman and his friend Mookaiah (MS Bhaskar) from a village on the Melur side of Madurai district, come as guests to their friend Fusil Bhai’s (Radharavi) house in bank staff with a bomb and a gun and takes control of the bank. Bank employees and customers are held hostage.
Trailer:
On the other hand, Mookaiah brings under control the branch manager’s house and Fusil Bhai takes over the deputy manager’s house at gunpoint. Director Rakesh’s ‘Saamaniyan’ answers the questions like what caused the outrage of three senior citizens, what is the background of the trio and whether the hostages were eventually rescued by the police.
Ramarajan, the protagonist who escapes from the very beginning with sharp ideas, struggles to act when he takes up the action and threats. He only picks up where he left off in the sentimental set before the finale. MS Bhaskar has given life to the character that runs in two different meters like affection and aggression with his mature performance. Radharavi’s contribution also gives the scenes the necessary thrust.
Naksha Saran and Leo Sivakumar deliver the necessary emotions for the sentimental scenes of the second half and make them watchable. ‘Mime’ Gobi only passes as a ‘template’ villain. An army of Bose Venkat, KS Ravikumar, Deepa Shankar, Smriti Venkat, Mullai, Aparnathy have come as supporting characters and have only done the work they were given.
Arul Selvan’s cinematography does not give any positive impact to the film. Ram Gopi’s cinematography fails to concentrate on the overarching story in later parts. Only the song ‘Kannana Kanne’, Ilayaraja’s music, lyrics and the voice of Sarat, gives weight at the right place. Ilayaraja has helped enhance the scenes as much as possible with his background music.
Writer V. Karthik Kumar has given us a templated story that is easily guessable with simple introduction of simple characters, an action twist, a mass twist, a tragic backstory, an ‘idea injection’ convention, auspiciousness. Although the screenplay is not innovative, the director Rakesh has tried to get away with mixing excitement and emotion as much as possible with the contribution of the actors. The film jumps straight into the story in just a few scenes. After that, the film is riddled with lost logic and stale cop-robber scenes.
The three main characters shed some light on their body language, mannerisms and some of the dramatic scenes. Ramarajan – Ilayaraja alliance songs, Ramarajan – ‘Senbhagame’ cow reference here and there, some things are still missing. At the same time, the WhatsApp forward messages, the sarcastic view of Chennai during the deluge, the hometown pride etc. are not enjoyable.
Although the compelling backstory in the second half carries the necessary impact and weight from the actors’ performances, the serial dragging on the episode with songs and long scenes is boring. The backstory of Ramarajan is beautifully conveyed in cartoon form.
Even if the sentimental spots before the finale click, the director also stabs the four-page commentary needle with it. The line on how the rapacious relationship between banks and real estate sector exploiting people through home loans is interesting. The film mixes in one-liners such as Hindi imposition, loan to big capitalists becoming ‘NPAs’ (Non-performing Assets). At the same time, the film presents an overall bleak view of home loans without any data.
Caste & Crew:
Music composed by: Maestro Ilaiyaraaja
Lyrics: Ilaiyaraaja
Singers: Karthick
Starring – Ramarajan, Radharavi, MS Bhaskar, Boss Venkat, Mime Gopi, KS Ravikumar, Saravanan Suppaiyah, Naksha Saran, Leo Siva Kumar, Vinothini, Deepa Sankar, Smruthi Venkat, Apranathi, Aranthangi Nisha, Saravanan Sakthi, Gajaraj, Mullai, Arul Mani, Kodandam, Supergood Subramani, and other’s.
Written & Directed by
R RAHESH
Producer : V Mathiyalagan
Banner : Etcetera Entertainment
Co Producer : D Balasubramaniam and C Sathish Kumar
Creative Head : Shrita Rao
Music : Mestro Illayarajaa
Lyrics: Mestro Illayarajaa
Singers : Mestro Illayarajaa, Karthik, Sharreth
Cinematographer : C Arul Selvan
Editor : Ram Gopi
Story : V Karthik Kumar
Costume : SP Sugumar
Choreographer: Vishnuvimal
PRO : A. John
Publicity designers : Sathish
VFX & CG: Praveen Leonard
Sound Designer: Arun mani
