Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum

Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum, the Tamil movie directed by Arisil Moorthy, is a mixed bag in terms of treatment. We call our films masala because they don’t really stick to one particular genre, and here, Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum is also trying the same with some indie sensibilities. It is a story about animal love, and it is also a take on contemporary politics. The movie oscillates between its desire to be a mini Shankar movie and being a Peepli live. And that contrast somewhere reduces the grounded feel it promised in the beginning.

Kunnimuthu and Veerayi, a couple living in the village, are our primary focus. Even though they don’t have kids, they consider their bulls Karuppan and Vellaiyan their own kids. One day both of them go missing, and Kunnimuthu goes to the police station for help. But he gets ridiculed and decides to do the searching on his own. But at one point, this search gets the help of the Media and how it escalates dramatically is what we see in Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum.

In the initial bits of the movie, the satiric angle is kind of strong. So for a movie like Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum, that gaze helps the film in building certain curiosity. But post-interval, the Shankar movie aspect of the script starts to develop, and the film slips into a familiar zone, and frankly speaking, the solution looked too easy. All those metaphorical build-ups you get to experience in the initial part of the film start to get explained verbally, and the movie starts to feel a bit empty in the craft part. Yes, if being socially relevant is considered a goal, you can claim that Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum is appreciable. But the film demanded a bit more fine-tuning.

I am calling Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum a mixed bag because it has aspirations to be subtle in certain areas. The old man who was working hard while the media and politicians went past him was a terrific representation of how leaders and media never pay attention to real problems. But somewhere, the intention to cater to a wider audience forces Arisil Moorthy to give closure to every track he opened. And that sort of makes it a pseudo optimistic movie rather than an impactful political commentary. M Sukumar’s visuals have many aerial shots depicting the desertedness, and even the warmer color palette pitches the story’s emotional tone.

Mithun Manickam shines as Kunnimuthu. Both Mithun and Ramya Pandian are totally living those characters, and a lot of the credits go to them to make the movie’s main track somewhat moving. The scene where Mithun runs away from the sight of bulls getting slaughtered was really emotional. Vani Bhojan plays the role of the journalist who takes up the real issues.

Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum is preachy, emotional, pertinent, and satirical. If they had decided to stick to one specific genre, I think the movie could have created a much better impact in making the viewer think about certain realities. Arisil Moorthy’s movie wants to fit into this socio-political drama category, but the multiple agendas weren’t helping it achieve the depth.