Raatchasi Tamil Movie

Raatchasi is a one-woman army movie that tries to propel Jyothika's come back avatar into the realms of masses leaning heavily on the do-gooder approach. In the process, it leaves a lot to be desired. Jul 7, 2019 By Baranidharan Sivasankaran

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A scene in "Raatchasi" had Geetharani (played by Jyothika), the headmaster of a government school call out a rogue kid 'zero' in front of his dad who is depicted to be the run of the mill politician with the usual shenanigans. The next scene has her render why she called him so and how one should not lead a life with the glory of their parents.

There were heaps of such stuff such as these in the movie that could have made an actor like Samudhirakani shed tears of joy. In other words, "Raatchasi" is another "one-woman-army" movie where Jyothika takes the educational system by its horn and kicks bureaucracy out of the park.

When the movie opens with the scene that showcases school children being forcefully paraded into a vehicle for a political gathering, the premise is set. Our expectations are further tuned as we are given a tour of the worn-out government school through the eyes of Geetharani - the scene very much reminisces Kamal Haasan's introduction in the movie "Nammavar," and that was followed by a trope that seemed to be plucked from "Saamy."

The movie is about how Geetharani (Jyothika) transforms a neglected government school from the clutches of irresponsible staff fighting every odd that comes her way. The importance of education and Geetharani's backstory was quite convincing. The role of caste and how it is being used time and again to stoke riots was also showcased.

The biggest issue was with the staging of scenes. The screenplay was so predictable and lame that it snowballed into a "mass heroine" movie with weak dialogues and over-the-top scenes that depicts Jyothika as the Almighty. In fact, there was a literal graphical depiction of her with many hands holding weapons in each one of them like a "Kaali".

Also, the character of Geetharani was unfairly "tough" such that she even masquerades her father's death and places her duty in front of everything. That hasn't earned anything for the story's conviction. Also, the subtle flashback connecting Jyothika and Poornima Jayaram seemed to be forcefully thrust in and weren't convincing.

Jyothika has stayed loyal to the subjects that accommodates her 'comeback' avatar. And, this time the toast has been well buttered by the newbie director Sy. Gowtham Raj. The craft was decent, but the movie lacked an engaging screenplay and powerful dialogues. It was not as appealing as it ought to be. Might soon be streamed on Amazon Prime, the movie's official streaming partner!