What Is the Story About?
Karuppan and Vellayan, the two bulls which belong to Kunnimuthu and his wife Veerayi, go missing in the night. Both Kunnimuthu and Veerayi treat the bulls like their own sons, and they become distraught upon finding them gone. Kunnimuthu searches his entire village for his “sons”, eventually going to the police station to ask for their help. However, the cops aren’t interested to help a poor couple from a far-off, backwards village and kick Kunnimuthu. What will Kunnimuthu and Veerayi do now?
Performances?
Mithun Manickam is the lead actor in this film and Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum (RARA) is his debut film. He does a decent job for his first feature film and his performance keeps us invested in the movie. Ramya Pandian is the female lead in the movie. She also gives a convincing portrayal – that of a grieving mother and is an important figure in the first half of RARA. Both Ramya and Mithun have good onscreen chemistry and their performance keeps us interested in Kunnimuthu and Veerayi’s story (who Mithun and Ramya portray, respectively).
Vadivelu Murugan portrays Manthinni, Kunnimuthu’s best friend and he is one of the few people who bring some levity to the film. His performance is understated, yet quite funny. Vani Bhojan is another good actor, who plays perhaps the most relatable role in RARA. She is a voice of reason and carries most of the second half of the movie on her own.
Analysis
While preachy messages aren’t the only issues found in this movie, it definitely sets the tone for RARA from the very beginning itself. The Amazon Prime original starts off with a group of individuals inquiring about a minister’s missing dog to a cop. The cop says that nearly half the department is looking for the dog and they will find the animal by tonight. However, when our protagonist, Kunnimuthu, goes to ask for help for his missing bulls, he gets ridiculed and ignored by the constable in charge because of his financial status. The film then goes to show how far he had to travel to meet the cop while showing some well-off people taking advantage of farmers and small businesses – all of it set up in a montage with a somber song in the background. If there were any doubts about the film’s overall vibe – the first ten minutes stamps its “preachy authority” down the viewer’s throat.
But, the preachiness quickly mellows down in favor of the story, surprisingly. We get a fairly decent backstory for our leads – Kunnimuthu, his grandmother, Manthinni (his best friend) and Veerayi (his wife) and we also learn how the bulls, Karuppan and Vellayan, came into their lives. A good part of the first half of the film has slice-of-life vibes, with Veerayi and Kunnimuthu taking care of their “sons” and living their lives around the needs of the cattle. This is similar to how some people treat their cats or dogs like family members – and the story concept works well in this rural setting.
However, the film loses its way fifteen minutes into the second half of the movie. The film is about two missing bulls, and we get a thrilling reason (at the end of the first half) as to why the cattle are missing – they get taken as revenge after Kunnimuthu accidentally hits a political leader during an important rally event. With the help of a reporter, Kunnimuthu and Veerayi are able to get their story out into the general public. This part of the film is exciting and actually gets us reinvested in the film, just as things started to slow down. There is also a lot of satire on screen, and despite the emotional setting, we get a few laughs.
And this is where we lose the plot. While the first half of the movie is about finding Karuppan and Vellayan, the second half of the film forgets about the missing cattle and throws us into the deep end of the many problems faced by the villagers – corrupt politicians, not knowing their own rights, news corporations losing interest in their problems for their need to be viral, no basic facilities, etc. Which comes out of nowhere. We only come back to the meat of the story only ten minutes before Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum ends – and guess what? It is a very convenient ending – the cows which are sold, are found and brought back home. And also the High Court orders the State Government to build all the facilities that the villagers are initially promised – happy endings all around.
But it doesn’t really make sense. The chances of Kunnimuthu finding Karuppan and Vellayan are close to nil – but since RARA is a movie he manages to find them because the plot decides to. And even if the High Court orders for the village to receive the reparations they are owed – the entire court case which should include reviewing of the case, Government officials coming to check the site themselves and many other important procedures gets skipped over. All of these should take up months, since the High Court can’t fully rely on the viral video made by a news team – no matter how well it is made. It will certainly help their case, but obviously the High COurt has to send officials to follow through. And that usually takes months to follow.
Overall, Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum is a decent one-time watch with an interesting premise. While the preachy messages, convenient ending and the film losing the plot halfway through are all negative drawbacks, RARA still manages to be an endearing feature film.
Other Artists?
The older actress who plays Kunnimuthu’s grandmother is worth a mention. While she doesn’t have as big a role as some of the other film leads – she still drops some epically funny lines. The rest of the supporting cast, who portray the politicians, channel executives and villagers play minor, yet vital roles in the movie and make RARA all the better.
Music and Other Departments?
The background score and cinematography is quite good. While the script and final execution needs better work, the story AKA plot of the film is still good and so is its direction. So, Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum’s writer-director, Arisil Moorthy deserves a mention.
Highlights?
Satirical Comedy
Good Overall Premise
Drawbacks?
Preachy Messages
Slow Pace
Unrealistic Ending
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, it was a decent one-time watch.
Will You Recommend It?
If you have two hours and don’t mind slow paced films, then have at it.
Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum Review by Binged Bureau
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