Rudhran is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language action drama film produced and directed by S. Kathiresan from a script by K. P. Thirumaaran.[3] The film, which marks S. Kathiresan's directorial debut, stars Raghava Lawrence and R. Sarathkumar, alongside Priya Bhavani Shankar, Nassar, Poornima Bhagyaraj, Kaali Venkat, Ilavarasu, Redin Kingsley and Sharath Lohitashwa. The score was composed by Sam C. S., while the soundtrack was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, Dharan Kumar and OfRo.
| Rudhran | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | S. Kathiresan |
| Written by | K. P. Thirumaaran |
| Produced by | S. Kathiresan |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | R. D. Rajasekhar |
| Edited by | Anthony |
| Music by |
|
Production company | Five Star Creations LLP |
Release date |
|
Running time | 153 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Box office | est. ₹10 crore[2] |
Rudhran was released theatrically on 14 April 2023, coinciding with Puthandu, to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, with criticism ditected towards the screenplay, writing, and fight sequences, but the social message, music and Lawrence's performance were praised. The film became a box office bomb.
Plot
editRudhran, an IT professional, lives a happily with his parents Devaraj and Indhira in Chennai. Rudhran falls in love with Ananya, a lab technician, who later reciprocates his feelings. Devaraj, a transport agency owner, helps his friend Das get a loan of ₹6 crore from a moneylender Ethiraj, but Das cheats Devaraj by absconding with the loan and Devaraj dies upon learning this. After Rudhran and Ananya get married, Rudhran leaves for London to settle the financial issues, Ananya becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter Anya. Ananya and Anya spend time with Rudhran in London. Rudhran tells her to see his mother and Ananya goes back to Chennai.
One day, Rudhran hears about Indhira's sudden death and Ananya's disappearance, where he travels to Chennai and carries out Indhira's funeral rites. Rudhran and Shakthi investigates about Ananya's disappearance, where they meet a cab driver, who had picked Ananya from the airport. However, the cab driver gets killed by a motorcycle gang. Rudhran captures one of the gang member and arrives at his hideout, where he sees Varadha, whom he met at Indira's funeral. Varadha is the leader of motorcycle gang. Rudhran tortures Varadha to reveal the truth.
Past: In 2007, Varadha and Bhoomi were recidivists in Pollachi who develops their crime network by _targeting the parents of the abroad-settled children. Bhoomi and Varadha kills the parents by injecting them with a serum, which would induce heart attack, and later uses the parent's fingerprints to usrup their land and properties. Due to a ₹100-crore business deal, Bhoomi _targets Indhira and her house. Varadha and his gang enters Indhira's house, where they secretly kill her.
Present: Rudhran gets furious after learning this and impales Varadha. However, Bhoomi arrives with his men and attacks Sakthi and Rudhran, where Guna, Bhoomi's henchmen, hangs Shakthi to death. Bhoomi reveals that he told Varadha and his gang to kill Ananya after she arrived at Indhira's house. Bhoomi stabs Rudhran, where he burns the factory and leaves Rudhran to his death, but a constable Narasimhan saves Rudhran. Distraught over his family's death, Rudhran begins his violent crusade, where he kills Sasi at a container depot.
Rudhran later kills Guna at an under-construction building. Bhoomi realizes that Rudhran is after him, where Bhoomi tells Ganga to hire Maari to kill Rudhran. Maari attacks Rudhran and Anya at a festival in Tirukalukundram, but Rudhran kills Maari and his men. Rudhran and Bhoomi confront each other at the Kala Bairavaa temple. Rudhran kills Bhoomi's men, including Ganga, and an intense fight ensues between Bhoomi and Rudhran. Rudhran finally kills Bhoomi by injecting the same serum, which Bhoomi used to kill the parents, thus avenging his family's death.
A few years later, Rudhran runs a charitable trust under Indhira's name, where he tracks down Das in Madurai and thrashes him to avenge Devaraj's death indicating a sequel.
Cast
edit- Raghava Lawrence as Rudhran
- R. Sarathkumar as Bhoominathan (Bhoomi)
- Priya Bhavani Shankar as Ananya, Rudhran's wife
- Nassar as Devaraj, Rudhran's father
- Poornima Bhagyaraj as Indhrani, Rudhran's mother
- Sharath Lohithaswa as Varadha, Bhoomi's friend
- Kaali Venkat as Shakthi, Rudhran's friend
- Rajendra Prasad as Inspector Raghavan
- Ilavarasu as Constable Narasimhan
- Redin Kingsley as Sketch
- Thangadurai as Pencil
- Sha Ra as Ponram
- Jayaprakash as SP Jagannathan
- A. Venkatesh as Ethiraj, a moneylender
- Hareesh Peradi as Pandian, a lawyer
- Rajendran as Vishnu, a tea seller
- Thennal Abhilash as Anya, Rudhran and Ananya's daughter
- Sambhavi Gurumoorthy as Deepika, Ananya's friend and Shakthi's wife
- Jayakumar as Das
- Rajesh as Subbiah
- Stun Siva as Guna, Bhoomi's goon
- Abhishek Vinod as Ganga, Bhoomi's goon
- Shivajith as Sasi, Bhoomi's goon
- Ravi Mariya as Lingam, Bhoomi’s goon.
- Neelima Rani as a doctor
- George Maryan as a cab driver
- Sai Dheena as Shankar
- Mime Gopi as Pandi
- Deepa Shankar as Karpagam, a police officer
- M. Kamaraj as Maari, Bhoomi's henchman
- Pradeep K. Vijayan as Rudhran's manager
- Shyam Prasad as Suresh, Subbiah's son
- Boys Rajan as Doctor
- Sugunthan as Johnny
- Kadugu Ramamoorthy
- Silmisham Siva
Production
editRudhran marks the directorial debut for producer S. Kathiresan and the second collaboration between Raghava Lawrence and R. Sarathkumar after their first venture Kanchana.[4] The first look poster for the film was released on 23 June 2022.[5][6] A promotional glimpse of the film was released on 29 October 2022.[7] Shooting of the film was wrapped up on 5 March 2023.[8][9]
Music
edit| Rudhran | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2023 | |||
| Recorded | 2022–2023 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Language | Tamil | |||
| Label | Saregama Hariharan Audio | |||
| Producer | G. V. Prakash Kumar, Dharan Kumar, Sam C. S., OfRo | |||
| G. V. Prakash Kumar chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Sam C. S. chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Dharan Kumar chronology | ||||
| ||||
| OfRo chronology | ||||
| ||||
The songs of the film were composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, while the remix version of the song "Paadatha Pattellam"[10][11][12] from Veera Thirumagan was recreated by Dharan Kumar, who also collaborated with singers Sathyaprakash and Nithyashree Venkataramanan previously for Carvaan Lounge Tamil segment.[13] The song "Jorthaale" which was composed by OfRo and featuring lyrics from singer Asal Kolaar back in 2021, was re-used for this film and it was released to digital streaming platforms as fourth single of the film's album. Sam C. S. composed the background score for the film.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Paadatha Pattellam" | Kannadasan | Dharan Kumar | Sathyaprakash, Nithyashree Venkataramanan, Emcee D | 4:47 |
| 2. | "Pagai Mudi" | Karunakaran | G. V. Prakash Kumar | Diwakar | 4:30 |
| 3. | "Unnodu Vaazhum" | Kabilan | G. V. Prakash Kumar | Sid Sriram | 4:58 |
| 4. | "Jorthaale" | Asal Kolaar | OfRo | Asal Kolaar, OfRo, MC Vickey | 3:32 |
| 5. | "Enna Petha Ammave" | Madhurakavi | G. V. Prakash Kumar | G. V. Prakash Kumar | 4:59 |
| 6. | "Kanaana Kanmani" | Snehan | G. V. Prakash Kumar | Balaji Sri | 3:33 |
| 7. | "Uyira Udala" | Gnanakaravel | G. V. Prakash Kumar | Balaji Sri | 5:07 |
| Total length: | 30:06 | ||||
Release
editThe film was earlier schedule to release on 23 December 2022, but was postponed due to a delay in the VFX works.[14][15] The film was released on 14 April 2023, coinciding with Puthandu.[16]
Home media
editThe digital rights were bought by Sun NXT, while the satellite rights were sold to Sun TV.[17]
Reception
editRudhran received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
Critical response
editABP Nadu gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Raghava Lawrence's movie is 100% entertainment guarantee so you can go to the theater and watch this movie once with your family.".[18] Logesh Balachandran of The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Rudhran is just another rehash of many action entertainers in Tamil cinema."[19] 123Telugu gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Raghava Lawrence starrer Rudhran is just a mediocre action drama that works in parts. The movie may not appeal to all sections of audiences, but given its nature, it will end up just an okay watch for the mass audience this weekend."[20]
Thinkal Menon of OTTplay gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Raghava Lawrence's enthusiasm and Sarath Kumar's menacing antagonist's role come across as huge relief in this below average potboiler that offers nothing new".[21] Shameena Parveen of Samayam gave 2/5 stars and criticized its length.[22]
Janani. K of India Today gave 1/5 stars and wrote "The story deals with a conflict that has the potential to be developed into a full-fledged crime story, but the filmmaker decided to do away with that and delve into melodrama instead. The final result is a film that hardly has anything new and interesting to offer."[23] Bharathy Singaravel of The News Minute gave 1/5 stars and wrote "With a stereotypically tragic backstory, extreme violence, and an utterly unconvincing hero, the film would have perhaps worked better if marketed as a parody."[24]
Ananda Vikatan noted it as a "time pass film".[25] Kalyani Pandiyan. S of Hindustan Times wrote "The film has all the features of a commercial film. Everything has worked out well except the action."[26] Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote "Rudhran is an excruciating watch that brings nothing new to the table and tries to capitalise on the tropes that had worked for ages, only to fail because of the same reason."[27]
References
edit- ^ "It's a wrap for Raghava Lawrence's 'Rudhran'". The Times of India. 6 March 2023. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "'Rudhran' box office collection day 3: Raghava Lawrence starrer earns over Rs 50 crore in its first weekend". The Times of India. 17 April 2023. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- ^ "'Rudhran' teaser: Raghava Lawrence starrer promises an action entertainer". The Times of India. 20 October 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Sarathkumar reunites with Raghava Lawrence for Rudhran". Cinema Express. 5 February 2021. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "ராகவா லாரன்ஸின் 'ருத்ரன்' ஃபர்ஸ்ட் லுக் வெளியீடு". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). 23 June 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Raghava Lawrence's Rudhran first look to release on this date". Cinema Express. 21 June 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Glimpse of Raghava Lawrence's Rudhran out". Cinema Express. 29 October 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ மலர், மாலை (6 March 2023). "படப்பிடிப்பை நிறைவு செய்த 'ருத்ரன்' படக்குழு". www.maalaimalar.com (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ Dinamalar (6 March 2023). "ருத்ரன் படப்பிடிப்பு நிறைவு | Rudhran shooting wrapped". தினமலர் – சினிமா (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Paadatha Pattellam song from Raghava Lawrence's Rudhran is out". Cinema Express. 11 February 2023. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "வெளியானது ருத்ரன் படத்தின் 'பாடாத பாட்டெல்லாம்' பாடல்". Dinamani (in Tamil). 11 February 2023. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "ராகவா லோரன்ஸின் 'ருத்ரன்' திரைப்படத்தின் ஃபர்ஸ்ட் சிங்கிள் வெளியீடு". Virakesari.lk. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "'Rudhran' first single: The reprised version 'Padathelam Pattellam' by Dharan Kumar looks fresh". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ Movies, T. B. (3 July 2022). "Raghava Lawrence's Rudhran seals release date". TeluguBulletin.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Raghavendra Lawrence Rudhran gets a release date; Actor looks intense in the second poster". PINKVILLA. 4 July 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Raghava Lawrence's Rudhran release date postponed". Cinema Express. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ "Rudhran: THIS digital platform has bagged the OTT rights of Raghava Lawrence's revenge drama". OTTplay. 14 April 2023. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ ஆவுடையப்பன், பேச்சி (14 April 2023). "அம்மா சென்டிமென்டா? ஆக்ஷன் தாண்டவமா? : ராகவா லாரன்ஸின் 'ருத்ரன் ' பட விமர்சனம் இதோ...!". ABP Nadu (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "Rudhran Movie Review: Raghava Lawrence's formulaic Rudhran fails to impress". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Rudhrudu – Strictly for masses". 123Telugu. 14 April 2023. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Rudhran review: Lawrence is the only saving grace in this tedious and predictable mass masala fare". OTTplay. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "ருத்ரன் விமர்சனம்". Samayam Tamil (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "Rudhran Movie Review: Raghava Lawrence's film is a pain to your ears and eyes". India Today. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Rudhran review: Raghava Lawrence-starrer is an agonising, formulaic bore". The News Minute. 14 April 2023. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ டீம், விகடன் (14 April 2023). "ருத்ரன் விமர்சனம்: பழங்கால திரைக்கதையில், அதைவிடப் பழைமையான ஒரு கதையில் ஓர் ஆதிகால சினிமா!". vikatan.com (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ S, Kalyani Pandiyan. "Rudhran Review: 'பைட் இருக்கீ.. டான்ஸ் இருக்கீ.. கதை இருக்கா? ருத்ரன் விமர்சனம்!". Tamil Hindustan Times (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ Rajendran, Gopinath (14 April 2023). "'Rudhran' movie review: This Raghava Lawrence, Sarathkumar reunion is an assault on our senses". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.