Rajathandhiram (Tamil, 2015)

After his outstanding portrayal of a rugged maniac in Nadunisi Naaygal, Veera has come back with a role oozing urban charm & charisma in Rajathandhiram. Subtle changes in body language when submitting himself to the antagonist and when captaining his team reveal the actor in him.

Timing is extremely essential to make comedy work and in that sense, the debutant Darbuka Siva is a natural. While the film is pretty serious throughout, Darbuka’s retorts and one-liners complement his friends’ serious demeanor superbly. He lights up the proceedings whenever given screen space which is outstanding for such a young actor.

The heroine, Michelle (Regina Cassandra) while having very less screen-time does have some purpose associated with her and is not just running behind the hero. Her expressions during her confrontation with Arjun are brilliant. Ajai Prasath who plays the role of the greedy friend also impresses with his underplay for most of the running time.

‘Pattiyal’ Sekar impresses as the prime antagonist in the film with almost a Radharavi-esque screen presence & voice. Ace character artists ‘Aadukalam’ Naren and Ilavarasu once again prove that minimal screen time is adequate for masters like them to make an impact.

For a film with one song with a duration of 135 Minutes, the background score needs to be top-notch to sustain interest & thrill & Sandeep Chowta certainly lives up to his name. With most of the scenes set indoors, Kathir excels with his camera through some fabulous filtered lighting through the well-designed windows. Multiple sequences of split-frame have been cleverly used to move the story forward by the editor, Praveen Antony.

Writer-Director Amid looks to be man who knows his craft as he closes all the open loops pretty well. He has a good sense of humour too siding ever so slightly towards sarcasm. This is evident when he places a non-descript guy, woken up by the confrontation between Arjun & Michelle and gives him a chance to fully listen to their argument & finally go back to sleep after realizing the futility of it all. Charming indeed!