Three brothers along with their sister (who is both narrator and through her version of Stooge sto sword swallower) drift in to the city looking for food, only to get blended up within a violent underworld of gangsters, police officers as well as deceptions.
Just like his debut directorial Pa. Pandi, Dhanush once again proves that he is capable of a good job at direction too. The world he explores this time is not the warm, feel-good one we associated with his debut. Raayan is set in a primitive, raw and rage filled background with rugged, violent and treacherous but at the same time extremely vulnerable characters.
Raayan opens in the flashback when three brothers (the grapes) and their infant sister escaped from a village to arrive accidentally at Sekar's(Selvaragavan), rags-to-riches clothes seller at Koyambedu Market. The scene then changes and jumps to the present where we learnt that all four friends have found themselves over time. The youngest of the three brothers, college student Manickam (Kalidas Jayaram) has a heart overflowing with virtue. His brother, Muthu (Sundeep Kishan), is hot-tempered and violent. The eldest one, Raayan (Dhanush) is a responsible father-figure of sorts. Their one binding glue is the adoration they share for their sister Durga (played by Dushara Vijayan) and as Raayan puts it, just getting her married only.
But even as he works to marry her, he gets entangled in a power battle between the two gangsters that rule the area, Sethu (SJ Suryah) and Durai (Saravanan), who have a history of feuding. Prakash Raj, the new police officer in town, is also agitating tensions between them covertly in order to clean up the city in the case of a fight.
Raayan's most predictable element is managed to be overcome, which is a testament to Dhanush's storytelling prowess and the performances. While we know in the back of our minds that practically every plot point the movie reaches as it progresses toward its logical conclusion is inevitable given this particular premise, we can't help but wonder if Dhanush could have been a little more ambitious and chosen to take things to a different space, at least with some of them. If this had been simply another sophomore project, this problem might not have been seen as significant, but considering the qualifications of this actor and director, who has set a very high standard for himself, it.
Despite this, he makes a sincere attempt to give this movie a unique look and feel rather than trying to capitalize on the drama that is built into the idea. The film's director, who is deft, captures the hostility that lies beneath the surface of every character, male and female, and paces the story at a fast enough speed to keep us interested in what's happening. He also has the capable assistance of his technical staff. One factor contributing to the unique ambiance of the picture is Om Prakash's dramatic cinematography, which suggests that danger is always lurking just beyond the frame. AR Rahman's score, which perfectly conveys the prevailing gloom and foreboding, heightens this tension.
The bond between the siblings is also the film's central theme. In spite of all the bravery and carnage we witness on screen (the filmmakers should also be commended for choosing to go with the 'A' rating), Dhanush makes sure we never forget that this is first and foremost an emotionally charged drama. As such, we are concerned about how the events affect the relationship between these brothers and their sister. His greatest accomplishment as a director is that.
