RajadhiRaja (transl. King of Kings) is a 2014 Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Ajai Vasudev, written by Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas and produced by Good Line Productions.[1] The film stars Mammootty, alongside Joy Mathew, Siddique, Joju George, Raai Laxmi, Mukesh Khanna, Raza Murad, Sijoy Varghese, Rahul Dev and Nawab Shah. The cinematography and editing were handled by Shaji Kumar and Mahesh Narayanan. The soundtrack was composed by Karthik Raja and Berny-Ignatius, while the musical score was composed by Gopi Sunder.
| Rajadhi Raja | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Ajai Vasudev |
| Written by | Udayakrishna Siby K. Thomas |
| Produced by | M. K. Nasser Stanly Silvester Consera |
| Starring | Mammootty Raza Murad Mukesh Khanna Joy Mathew Siddique Joju George Raai Laxmi Sijoy Varghese |
| Cinematography | Shaji Kumar |
| Edited by | Mahesh Narayanan |
| Music by | Score: Gopi Sunder Songs: Karthik Raja Berny-Ignatius |
Production company | Good Line Productions |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
RajadhiRaja was released on 5 September 2014 to mixed reviews from critics and became commercially successful at the box office.[2]
Plot
editIn Chittur, Ayyappan is a petty thief who visits his relative Shekarankutty, a gas station owner, leading a happy family life with his wife Radha and his daughter Sreedurga. One day, Shekarankutty is arrested by the police on suspicion of him being a crime boss called Raja in Mumbai, but is released as the police could not confirm that he was the suspect. That following night, Shekarankutty and his family are attacked by a group of gangsters whom Ayyappan had a fight once. The next day they shift their house. As Shekarankutty and Ayyappan go to meet the police commissioner, they are followed by the same gang that attacked them. As they are rounded up, Ayyappan tries to flee, but stops when seeing Shekarankutty beating up them, thus revealing his identity as Raja. After the fight, Shekarankutty reveals to Ayyappan about his past.
Past: Raja arrives at Mumbai with an ambition to become a businessperson, but instead got a job as a cab driver where he met his boss Krishna Vamsi who offered a life in the Indian underworld to gain money and fame. Raja kills Radha's brother Chandru, one of Vamshi's men in an attempt of saving Chief Secretary Mahindra Varma's daughter who was kidnapped. Varma was his old friend who changed him and gave a new life. Radha and her family was unaware that Raja killed Chandru.
Present: Raja (Shekarankutty) is threatened by Vamshi, that his family will be killed, but he manages to save his family in the nick of time. Later, Raja is sent by his former boss to kill Varma who is the Chief Secretary in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu on the occasion of Varma's daughter's wedding. As Raja is indebted to Varma for the help he had done in the past, Raja can never kill Varma, but Raja's boss and his associates are adamant on killing Varma, where they take Raja's family hostage and threaten to kill them unless Mahindra Varma is brought to them.
Mahindra Varma tells that he too loves his family like Raja, where Raja brings Mahindra Varma to Ahmed Shah. Raja reveals that he killed Vamshi before arriving at the place with the help of his friend Sikandar, whose family was killed by Vamshi in a bomb blast. Shah and his men try to kill the Varma, but Shah and his men gets killed by Raja. Later, Raja manages to hide his past and lives a happy life as Shekarankutty with his family.
Cast
edit- Mammootty as Rajashekharankutty / Shekharankutty alias Raja
- Siddique as Mahendra Varma IAS, Chief Secretary
- Joy Mathew as Ahamed shah
- Joju George as Ayyappan
- Raai Laxmi as Radha, Shekharankutty's wife[3]
- Raza Murad as Krishna Vamshi
- Mukesh Khanna as Sikhander
- Nawab Shah as Sathya
- Rahul Dev as John Tiger
- Sijoy Varghese as Chandru, Radha's brother
- Babu Namboothiri as Gangadhara Menon, Radha's father
- Lena as Vidyalakshmi
- Bheeman Raghu as DYSP Paulose Pothen
- Abu Salim as Sandeep, a security officer
- Kazan Khan as Khalid
- Ravi Prakash as Mumbai Commissioner Devilal Patel IPS
- Assim Jamal as a gangster
- Taniya Stanley as Ammu, Mahendra Varma's daughter
- Nelson as Kuttappan
- Shaju as Man fighting at Petrol pump
- Sethulakshmi as Paruttiyamma
- Baiju VK as CI George
- Baby Eva as Sreedurga
- Baby Karen Mejo as Mahendra Varma's little daughter
- Unni Mukundan as Mahendra Varma's son-in-law (cameo appearance in the song "Kanninu Kannin")[4]
- Shamna Kasim as a dancer (cameo appearance in the song "Dhan Than" )[5]
Soundtrack
editTwo songs were composed by Karthik Raja and one song ("Midumidukkan") was composed by the duo Berny–Ignatius.[6]
All lyrics are written by Hari Narayanan
| No. | Title | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pattum Chutti" | Karthik Raja | Karthik, Najim Arshad, Sudeep Kumar, Sachin Warrier, Divya S. Menon, Sangeetha | 4:10 |
| 2. | "Kham Kham" | Karthik Raja | Tippu, S. Surmugh, Sudeep Kumar, Yasin | 5:26 |
| 3. | "Midumidukkan" | Berny–Ignatius | Madhu Balakrishnan, Rimi Tomy, Kumari Nandha J. Devan | 3:57 |
| Total length: | 13:33 | |||
Reception
editCritical response
editDeepa Soman of The Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Rajadhiraja is a winsome film with enough moments to entertain you this Onam season."[7] Sify wrote "Rajadhi Raja is a mimicry of some tasteless masala flicks, which are seriously outdated. This one has perhaps been aimed at the hardcore fans of the superstar."[8] IndiaGlitz gave 6/10 stars and wrote "In the final analysis, 'Rajadhiraja' doesn't offer any freshness in narratives, but it can be fine for a one-time watch if you are not in theatres with any big expectations."[9] Paresh C Palicha of Rediff gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Rajadhi Raja proves to be a lacklustre Onam release"[10]
Box office
editThe film grossed close to ₹14 crore (US$1.7 million) in eight days from the Kerala box office.[11][12][13]
References
edit- ^ "Mammootty to enthral fans as 'Rajadhi Raja'". MetroMatinee. 8 June 2014. Archived from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ^ "'Rajadhi Raja' will test Mammootty's mass appeal". Sify. 5 September 2014. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014.
- ^ "Raai as Radha". The New Indian Express. 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
- ^ "Unni turns item boy". Indiaglitz.
- ^ "Shamna Kasim Turns Item Dancer!". FilmiBeat.
- ^ https://www.raaga.com/malayalam/movie/rajadhi-raja-songs-M0003157 [bare URL]
- ^ Deepa Soman (7 September 2014). "Rajadhiraja". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ Sify.com. "Rajadhi Raja". Sify. Archived from the original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ Indiaglitz (6 September 2014). "Rajadhi Raja Review - 'Rajadhiraja' is an Average Thriller". IndiaGlitz. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ Paresh C Palicha (5 September 2014). "Review: Rajadhi Raja fails to impress". Rediff.com. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ "Kerala Box-Office – September". Sify. 8 October 2014. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014.
- ^ "Kerala Box-Office – September". Sify. 8 October 2014. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016.
- ^ "'Shylock': FIVE reasons why you must not miss this Mammootty starrer". The Times of India. 22 January 2020.
External links
edit- RajadhiRaja at IMDb