Rajathandhiram - King Of Con

Bharath Vijayakumar

A con film that sucks you in is always fun. Sometimes the makers with their overindulgence con themselves, underestimating the intelligence of the audience. Rajathandhiram thankfully belongs to the former category.

Cast:

Despite mixed reception for the film, Veera did make an impact with Nadunisi Naaigal. He is back after a brief sabbatical and makes another good impression with Rajathandhiram. As the shrewd mastermind who is always on his toes, he does look at ease.  Barring a couple of antics to woo the masses that comes across as silly, Rajathandhiram is a neat visiting card to mainstream cinema for this youngster. Pattiyal Sekhar as the cunning Azhagappan is the man to watch out in Rajathandhiram. With minimum fuss he comes across as an extremely capable actor. The entire cat and mouse game between the hero and him is elevated greatly by his demeanor which looks infallible.  Darbuka Siva is extremely funny at most places. However you feel he could have toned down a bit in the latter half. Ajai Prasath and Regina fit the bill.

Crew:

Right from the first shot you know the film is technically sleek. The robbery scenes have been pulled off with aplomb. The background score by Sandeep Chowta is brilliant.Editing is nicely done with all the chase and heist sequences never being clumsy at any point. 

Direction:

A. G. Amid seems a very confident maker and someone who knows exactly what he is doing. Rajathandhiram is a con film in more ways than one. The film itself cons us most of the time.We have no clear idea on how things will shape up. Films these days are so concerned about surprising you and make their intentions so apparent that you see the twist coming all along. This is where Rajathandhiram stands apart. Read it on paper and all you get is a good vs evil drama. But it is packaged superbly.Humour and the casual body language of the primary characters is a revelation. 

We have an upright and honest man being back stabbed. We see it and feel sorry for him. And then things get back on action. Though the entire plot hinges around this brief episode, there is not even an extra second wasted on melodrama.The makers know the selling point of the film and they have made all efforts to stick to it. Kudos to the maker for the great detailing in the well orchestrated and long heist sequence. The ending however looks like a bit contrived and the movie could have ended a few minutes earlier with what actually looks like a better climax. Looking back at the trailer and the initial promos, one is not sure whether the intention of the makers was to mislead us or whether there was a last minute change to the climax itself.

Bottomline:

A smartly made con film or a smart film that actually cons you? It works in both ways!!!

Rating:3.25/5