Raththam Review: Investigative Drama Called For A Better Actor Than Vijay Antony

2.5/5

DURING a promotional interview, CS Amudhan said Raththam is his first “serious film,” a clear departure from the comic spoofs that he is known for. He also calls it his “homage to Spotlight.” And then he ropes in Vijay Antony — who has at best only one stock expression throughout the film — to play the role of a former daredevil investigative journalist. You would think he was joking. No such luck, this time, the director doesn’t even try to squeeze in comedy anywhere in the narrative. It’s a pretty straightforward investigative drama that pivots around hate crimes in the country. There is a bit of everything in here — though it doesn’t work for the most part.

You might require more than usual patience to sit through the initial portions. They are generic and bland. A murder (staged without any subtlety) in Chennai leads to the introduction of the main character. Kolkata is where the protagonist lives, in a modest little flat in the suburbs. The first thing you notice is Ranjith Kumar’s awfully fitted beard which is in danger of shedding. And a face that’s like a blank stare. Ranjith is a single father, who dotes on his daughter. He tends horses for a living. Those portions are dull, and Vijay Antony struggles to whip up any moments of tenderness there. Even before it’s told, we get hints of a mourning widower. But of course, we know it’s only a matter of time before Ranjith’s mask of drabness falls off. The narrative picks up momentum when Ranjith is forced to shift to Chennai, and to his earlier profession, to investigate the murder of his friend Chezhiyan, who is also Ranjith’s foster father’s (Nizhalgal Ravi) son.

The core thought is fascinating and largely unexplored. It’s a plotline that offers a glimpse into the history of hate crimes in the country and is linked to the vast unspecified network of human chains that keep a close track of social media profiles to filter targets for their operations. They mostly operate incognito and are very difficult to track down. But the profundity of the theme most often gets lost in translation.

At the newspaper office, there is the crime editor, played by Nandita, a plain-speaking journalist who doesn’t tolerate mediocrity/incompetence at work. The actor displays efficacy in her body language which lends credibility to her profile. Ironically Vijay Antony, despite having to do much of the heavy lifting on screen, falters when he slips into his investigative reporter role. Though the people around him gush about his remarkable journalistic skills, we aren’t persuaded. So a scene that ideally should have generated goosebumps, when he surprises Nandita by offering his journalistic insights, lands nowhere. The same happens when he abruptly breaks into martial arts and makes short work of the miscreants in the office. Any attempts to display his heroism fall flat.

Perhaps the narrative manages to salvage itself post-interval, when Ranjith begins his probe, fastidiously connecting the murders and missing links. Despite the occasional sharp writing the execution rarely rises above the banal. We do get sporadic superb scenes though, especially the ones involving the antagonist, whose stillness and smile even in the most trying setting can be daunting. Funnily the antagonist is so stimulating that it even rubs off on the protagonist, resulting in a fantastic verbal duel between the two. Here’s a baddie who doesn’t want to invite your sympathy with her sob story, rather she is revelling in outwitting her enemies with her own superior mind games. And she does it with the bare minimum fuss. 

In a way that was a relief, not to layer the narratives with provocative visuals, which is usually the case in such stories. Be it a character who breaks down while talking about being sexually violated or the antagonist gently finishing her backstory as “brutal”, those are details that are described verbally yet they remain impactful. For the life out of me, I can’t really recall the music or background score. Raththam required a better actor to sell us his outstanding CV as a hotshot investigative journalist. Perhaps that would have covered some of the flatness in the narrative. Clearly, this is no Spotlight.