Could have been much better. Review on Raam - Tamil Movie

After “Snehithiyae”, I don’t remember a single crime thriller that really created an impact as a thriller. After knowing that “Raam” directed byAmeer is a crime thriller, I entered the cinema with lot of expectations. But did the movie fulfill my appetite of watching a taut thriller? I read so many reviews praising the movie as a taut thriller but to me the movie is a great chance for making a cult classic gone waste. Before I elaborate on where the movie fails I would like to laud some of them for making this movie little different and appealing to most of the audience.

It works because

First of all, I should congratulate Ameer for attempting a crime thriller amidst usual masala flicks because thrillers are highly risky these days. The screenplay structure is also quite different. The movie starts with a scene where we see dead bodies of a mother and son inside a locked house. After a while we come to know that the boy is alive and only his mother is dead and so also he gets accused for killing his own mother. From there the entire movie focus on the murder investigation in which we are told more about the eccentric characters of Raam and about his thick bonding with his mother. The scenes switch between past and present and as it does, we come to know more and more about Raam and his character, we also come to know more about what happened minutes before the murder. All different statements and happenings during the investigation finally lead to the so called twist and bring the real murderer to the fore.

One man who steals the entire show is Kanja Karuppu who comes as a horse man. His natural dialogue delivery in Madurai slang, timing and body language brings the houses down. He is a great relief in otherwise seriously moving subject without much deviation. Director seems to have understood the pulse of the audience well and has done a nice trick in the screenplay by including such a hilarious character.

It doesn’t work because

The scenes in the flashback which are meant to unfold the eccentricities of Raam lacks depth, logic, don’t provide enough reasons for why he behaves the way he does and are not acceptable. This lack of a fineness in raam’s character sketch makes his actions and reactions irritating. Why the hell he has to chant those mantras on the top of hills, is he mentally retarded or is he a spiritual person who has a different perception about the whole world, or what made or changed him like that? There are actually no answers for all these questions in the screenplay. We are disappointed when we come to know the real murdered instead of getting surprised and that is the biggest drawback of the movie. Also in a thriller, there must be enough suspects and only if they are, we will be surprised when we come to know that they are not and some other is the real culprit. So, as there are no many suspects the ending was not a great shock. Even the revenge episode at the end is not handled well and it turns a comedy by the inclusion of a song with visuals showing Raam chanting mantras on the top of the hill. It lacks depth, force and logic which “Adada” song had in “Pithamagan”.

The characters are very less and hence casting is done with care. Kajala fits the bill as a school student but she has pretty less scope to perform except weeping all the time. Jeeva has done what he was asked to do but the major minus point of the movie is his confusing characterization he doesn’t impress much. Rehman and Murali do a fine job as police officers and the scenes depicting their ego clashes are well handled. Saranya as Raam’s mother is a bad choice. She has nothing much to do.

Yuvan Shankar Raja gives a melodious relief and also has done a good job in background score. Ramji’s cinematography is excellent and has captured the natural beauty of Kodaikanal as it is. Ameer definitely has talent but for the sake of being different, he should not confuse himself too much and also confuse the audience. On the whole, the movie is worth watch once but is not a great thriller or whatever as others calls it.