RajadhiRaja

I don’t really know the exact definition of the so called mass films and I believe everyone have their own version of its definition. Directed by debutant Ajai Vasudev, RajadhiRaja starring megastar Mammootty is packaged very nicely as a festival entertainer. It’s true that it has all the clichés we have seen in some films released in the past, but as Unni Mukundan said in a recent interview, the new director has managed to know the pulse of the audience who are there to enjoy this genre.

Shekharan Kutti is a common man who runs a restaurant next to a petrol pump which he is managing. After the arrival of his relative Ayyappan some unwanted issues begins in the life of Shekharan kutti. As the list of the mighty guests went on increasing, suspicions about the identity of Shekharan Kutti starts to become a subject and the film mainly focuses on that avatar of the character.

Well in the beginning itself they have made the character talk about his childhood and I was like “God! Not again..” . But to be frank Ajai Vasudev surprised me by handling the rest of the first half very smartly. Almost everything that’s happening on the screen is quite predictable, especially if you are watching the film after having seen the trailer. But still the film manages to keep you interested in it. They have used Ayyappan to the best in the first half and with that interval fight which I believe really had a punch which makes the movie very much entertaining. It goes in to that cluttered feel in the beginning of the second half as shoddy visual effects and too peripheral presentation of the Mumbai underworld starts to bore you. But Ajai brings back the momentum by presenting the less charming used out ideas of Uday Krishna and Sibi K Thomas in a pretty pleasing way. With a hero less interested in showing off his manliness, RajadhiRaja offers a different kind of fun.

A large chunk of the credit should go to the director for knowing the audience and treating the story in this way. Uday – Sibi duo hasn’t done anything out of their zone in terms of scripting and the only element new in the film was something that I have seen in Ajith’s last film Veeram. Dialogues were okay. Average cinematography. Editor has done a good job especially with the fights. Songs are just about satisfactory. Impressive BGMs  from Gopi Sundar.

Mammootty has portrayed the role with elegance. Shekharankutti has this humble, calm shade and the actor has managed to keep him in that zone even in the heroic scenes. Raai Laxmi was good in her character. Joju George was hilarious as Ayyappan. Mukesh Khanna doesn’t have much to do (May be we will see him in many more Malayalam films). Siddique was once again good in his character even though I didn’t like the idea to make him sing and dance. Joy Mathew was disappointing with his dialogue rendering and Sijoy Varghese showed improvement when compared to Avatharam. Rest of the cast was also good.

So overall, RajadhiRaja qualifies as a festival film. It is a package that has compromises, but still there is that convincing x factor in the masala theme which makes it enjoyable. My rating is 3/5 for Mammootty’s RajadhiRaja.