Movie starts with the marriage of John (Arya) & Regina (Nayantara). Their relationship is not smooth from the first day of their marriage. Both had love failures in the past and as a result, they can't adjust with each other. As the movie progresses, situation arises where Regina was asked to narrate her past life to John. John came to know about her intense love towards Surya (Jai), who works in Customer Care department of a mobile connection company. In second half, Regina came to know about John's romance before marriage. John was in love with Keerthana (Nazriya Nazim), an IT professional. What leads to their love failure? What leads to their marriage and How John & Regina overcomes their past forms the rest of the story.
It's difficult to say who'd walk with all the accolades and all the lead actors were perfect in their roles. Nayantara emotes her part with amazing gracility. Her character in the film is somewhat similar to her real life situation. Emotions in the character are rightly carried by Nayantara with her finest performance. Arya is completely different in Raja Rani. He carried a complex character with noteworthy ease. Arya proves his spunk in the second half with his histrionics. It was important that Jai needed to underplay his character to prove his innocence to Nayantara and he was good in doing the things right. After Neram, Nazriya Nazim comes up with first rate performance. She is getting better with every film. Satyaraj is good as Nayantara's father. Dhanya Balakrishnan is fine in her supporting role. Sathya Raj and Santhanam surprise with their outstanding comic timing and emotional scenes. Rest of the characters are limited and fine in their roles.
Raja Rani marks directorial debut of Atlee, who is former assistant of director Shankar. The movie revolves around the story of couple who decide to get married against their will. The love between the couple grows with the time but it burst out all of a sudden nearing climax. The major trouble with the film is thin story which can be narrated in a short time but it runs for nearly three hours' time. Even emotions in the film are formulated and there are no smart dialogues to support the emotional scenes. Atlee selects the long casual climax to support the film. Director has taken an age-old concept and given his own spin to it. Movie has few inspirations of Milana (2011), Nenjathai Killathey (1980) and Mounaragam (1986). Major problem was Atlee failed to provide us with strong reason for the lead pair to overcome their past. The movie has its moments, but the execution is a little sloppy. Debutant deserves a pat on the back for the way handled the things in the second half and elevated the mood for the final message.
Music by G.V. Prakash Kumar redeems himself with sterling soundtrack after chain of flops. But the lyrics didnt suit the track as Tamil ones. Background Score is apt. Cinematography by George C is fantastic. Initial scene, church scene was like watching a foreign film. Lot of colors are added. The water drop frills, sun rays falling under the leaves are the best. The dialogues in the film by Srirama Krishna are fine, the way he converted the punchlines of Santhanam deserves a applause like "Snehithudu lo manchi vadu chedda vadu enti snehithudu antene Manchi vadu", "Prathi LOVE failure venuka LIFE untundi".All songs in the film are shot as montages and are peppy. Dubbing of the film is aptly done, except for Jai who needed a soft voice over to suit his innocence. Editing by Ruben should have been crispier, especially with the startup and second half portions. Luckily the important scenes in the second half are fast paced. Production values by Fox Star Studios and A.R. Murugadoss is top in quality.
Raja Rani begins with the marriage of John and Regina moves forward with the days of painful married life and then flashbacks of first love's take care of most of the pre and post interval. The first half is completely engaging whereas second half is a bit dragging towards the conclusion and hurried sequences. The performances of the leads added great value to the film especially the flashback episodes. Raja Rani has its own melodrama and clamps at places but still they didn't disturb the flow of this commercial romantic entertainer which has a message to conclude things.
"Just because people you love, leave you, doesn't mean you have to follow them. Life goes on. It will definitely change for the better and one day you will want to start living again."
Atlee Kumar,A.R. Murugadoss,Arya,Nayantara,Nazriya Nazim.A Feel Good Entertainer.
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