#Rathnam Review

#Rathnam

2024 - Tamil

Starring : Vishal , Priya Bhavani Shankar, Samuthrakani, Murali Sharma , Yogi Babu, Muthukumar , Harish Peradi and Gautham Vasudev Menon (Cameo)

Directed by Hari

Plot: Rathnam , a henchman with a scarred childhood saves a girl nammed Mallika from goons who try to kill. After initial conformation, Rathnam decides to become her guardian angel and help in her solving the issue. Who is Mallika ? What is the Issue ? And how is this issue connected with Rathnam's past forms the rest of the story.

Performance wise , Vishal has done a pretty good job. He looks much fitter than Mark Antony and also performs well in Emotional Scenes. Man is just fantastic in Action scenes. Priya Bhavani gets equal Screen space and meaty role and has performed equally good. Samuthrakani as Vishal's Godfather does a good job. Yogi Babu's Unwanted Comedy Track brings scattered laughter here and there but largely is boring. Murali Sharma , Harish Peradi and Muthukumar as the Antagonist Trio are written in a cliched manner. Their Backstory is decent but the character design is so one dimensional and are so template driven. Gautham Vasudev Menon gets a Blasting Cameo where he just steals the scene .

Technically, the Film feels like a Film directly out of mid 2000s. DSP's Songs as Montages are passable but the thumping Bgm is loud and headache inducing.

M Sukumar's Cinematography especially in the Lengthy Single take sequence is great, otherwise simple. Has some unique shots but aren't that satisfying. TS Jay's editing looks simple and is partially effective. Special Mention to Kanal Kannan , Peter Hein ,Dhillip Subburayan for the Stunt Sequences. Stunt Sequences are fantastically choreographed in a believable manner.

The Initial 30 mins are paced slowly as Hari takes times to establish characters , conflict and the setup. Post that the film takes off in a interesting manner and moves fastly till the interval. The Stunt Sequences in First Half are fantastic and the writing is also pretty organic. 

On the Downside, the film goes downhill from Second Half as the film just goes rounds and rounds on the same thing. The Conflict beyond a point makes no sense , the Antagonist's are very weak and the fights just keep repeating on lengthily. The biggest disappointment of the second half is the weak screenplay . It becomes very predictable and lacks any factor or surprise or twists. The Film excessive gore also becomes uncomfortable beyond a point. 

Hari has tried to formulate his regular Mass Masala Genre into a Family Drama but unfortunately the Drama becomes more . Atleast the Drama could've worked if there was emotional connect but due to no emotional connect , the drama feels superficial. The Film also tends to remind you of Hari's Previous films Yaanai or Poojai or even Vishal's films such as Pattathu Yaanai. Though there are no Trademark Hari shots or sequences, the film tends to be a new age Hari films but ends up being a hodgepodge mess of superficial drama and excessive violence.

Highlights :

1)Single Take Pre Interval Fight Sequence 

2)Second Half Forest Fight 

3)Gautham Menon's Cameo 

4)DSP's Edhunala song

Overall : Rathnam is a long overdone template mass masala drama film where the drama is half cooked and mass masala is fully cooked but the final product is not satisfying. Probably the weakest of Hari - Vishal Combo .

We can term this as Partial Comeback as Hari as he almost taps into what audience want now but then takes it and reverts back to do what he does in early 2000s.

Rating : 2.25-2.5/5

Satellite Rights : Zee Tamizh

Digital Rights : Amazon Prime