Raghuvaran B.Tech
With the tale of a protagonist that immediately jells with the viewer, the
narration has a packed theatre lapping it up all and yearning for more. It
seems to suggest that our cinema is willing to take a route outside the
strictly formulistic yet keep working around a defined area of expected
entertainment. While it is actually a dubbed version of a Tamil film Vela
Iyilla Pattathari, it is amazing that Dhanush has a huge fan following that is
whistling for more as the dynamic actor takes to the script from the word go
with an energy that is the mainstay of the film. Light hearted, common place
yet piloted with a cause the script by the film maker himself Velraj, it deals
with the central theme of unemployment. Interestingly it also echoes for a
while the theme of Jhumpa Lahri’s Namesake.
Raghuvaran (Dhanush) holds a serious complaint against his dad (P
Samuthirakani) for naming him after a villain and his other sibling Karthik
(Hrishikesh) after a star. He also holds it against his middle class parents
including Mom (Saranya) that they sent him to a regional language medium school
while the other was sent to an English medium school.
The narrative runs its course dealing extensively with the challenges of a
middle class family and its stated moorings where the Dad and Mom live a simple
life and with the hope that their elder son would stop being a drifter and
would find himself a job. While the elder sibling is unemployed with a B. Tech
degree in Civil Engineering, the younger boy enjoys the luxury of a monthly pay
packet. While unemployment hurts, the constant derision and jeers do not make
life easy for Raghuvaran.
Cocooned in a huge complex state of social ridicule and rejection, Raghu
refuses to compromise with the opportunities at the employment market. Simple,
even naïve, he is willing to walk the path to the mirage and live his dream. He
hides the rejection and hurt, commitment and truth behind a carefree façade.
While the constant jibes of his employment status hurt he puts up a defying
front of indifference. He woos his successful neighbour Shalini (Amala Paul)
tone one rare person who perceives his real value and is in love with him.
Unfortunately this one bright spot also becomes the cause of the family tragedy
when he refuses to take emergency calls from his dying mother and thereby
inherits the guilt of being her killer.
The movie takes a turn after the interval when a rich philanthropist whose
daughter Anita (Surabhi) is the beneficiary of an organ transplant by the dying
Mom. So far so good. You guess with the arrival of Anita gratitude Vs love
would constitute the conflict. While it brews at a very peripheral level, the
story choses another tangent where the skill sets of Raghuvaran are petted
against Arun Subramanyam (Amitash Pradhan) a spoilt brat scion from a business
family who believes that villainy is the primary strategy for successful
business – yet one of those things they forget to teach in business school.
Whole lot of very cinematic scenes and situations lead to the victory of good
over evil. A whole army of guys could attack the protagonist but we know how he
cannot just handle them but do so with panache. He wins them all over
physically and reiterates that you don’t mess with the son in law of the
Messiah of high volt action!!
The mainstay of the film is doubtlessly Dhanush. He has a niche space for
himself and acts will within that defined area. It is revealing that the actor
has a huge fan following and the whistles at the cinema are a clear indication
that as long as the image is intact the audience cares a damn for logic. Albeit
borrowed stuff, good beginning for the new year.
Rating : 2.5 stars
+ Dhanush and theme.
– Formulistic.