Rajathandhiram

ராஜதந்திரம் Rajathandhiram
Directed by	A. G. Amid
Produced by	Senthil Veeraasamy
Written by	A. G. Amid
Starring	Veera Bahu Regina Cassandra Pattiyal K. Shekar
Music by	Original Songs:- G. V. Prakash Kumar Background Score:- Sandeep Chowta
Cinematography	S. R. Kathir
Edited by	Praveen Antony
Production company	Sunland Cinemas White Bucket Productions
Distributed by	Fox Star Studios
Release dates	13 March 2015 (2015-03-13)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Rajathandhiram ராஜதந்திரம் is a 2015 Tamil heist film written and directed by debutant A. G. Amid and jointly produced by Sunland Cinemas and White Bucket Productions. Fox Star Studios acquired the distribution rights of the film. The film features Veera Bahu and Regina Cassandra in the lead roles. Sandeep Chowta composed the film score while G. V. Prakash Kumar had composed a promo song, cinematography handled by S. R. Kathir, film edited by Praveen Antony, production designed by Videsh and action sequences designed and choreographed by Silva The film released on 13 March 2015 and was a 'Hit' at the box office. On 13 March 2016, the team announced the launch of Rajathandhiram 2 with a first six-minute video clip on YouTube.^[1]

Plot

Arjun (Veera Bahu) and his two friends make a living out of conning people for a few thousands and are quite good at it. When Arjun falls for a girl, Michelle (Regina Cassandra), he agrees to Deva’s (Ajai Prasath) plan of stepping up to nail a big con job so that he can help her financially. The con job sets off a chain of events that lead to a riveting cat-and-mouse game with a heist at its fulcrum.

Cast

• Veera Bahu as Arjun Parthiban
• Regina Cassandra as Michelle D'Mello
• Pattiyal K. Shekar as Kanchi Azhagappan
• Darbuka Siva as Austin D'Costa
• Ilavarasu as Sethu Madhavan
• Ajai Prasath as Devaraaj Sarathy
• Aadukalam Naren as Dharmaraj

Production

The film was reported in June 2013 when it was revealed that Veera, who had appeared in Nadunisi Naaygal (2011), was making a comeback in a venture produced by White Bucket Productions. The project, titled Rajathandhiram, was to be directed by A. G. Amid, while G. V. Prakash Kumar would score the film's music. Reports suggested that Manasi Rachh, who had appeared in Karan Johar's Hindi film Student of the Year (2012), would play the leading female role while Aadukalam Naren and Srihari would also form a part of the cast.^[2]

Portions of the film were also filmed at Birla Planetarium, Chennai in February 2014, with the team issuing a press release breaking the silence on the progress of the venture. It was also revealed that Regina Cassandra was a part of the project.^[3][4] It was reported that the film was close to completion in June 2014 and that musician Darbuka Siva had played a pivotal role in the film.^[5] Sandeep Chowta replaced Prakash Kumar as the film composer, although the latter contributed a song which was used as a promotional track. The filming was completed in mid 2014.

Soundtrack

The background music for this film was composed by Sandeep Chowta. However, the single song in the movie was composed by G V Prakash Kumar.

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to STAR Vijay. Rajathandhiram released on 13 March 2015.

Marketing

Rajathandhiram's team began its promotion in December 2014. In a unique manner, the posters and teasers, each of them introducing a character from the film, were launched by several celebrities via their own Twitter handles. While Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Silambarasan introduced the lead characters, Venkat Prabhu, Premgi Amaren, Kreshna and Kushboo launched teasers featuring the supporting characters.^[6]

Critical reception

Bharadwaj Rangan of The Hindu wrote, "this is a film that assumes that there is an audience out there for smartly packaged entertainment. It is a film made for the love of cinema and not from fear of the box office. It’s evocatively shot, has a super-stylish background score and the writing is unafraid to take its time...This sort of filmmaking is its own kind of heist, tunneling into the bowels of Kollywood, to the vault that houses all the cherished staples, and escaping with your dignity intact".^[7] The Times of India gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Making a heist film is as tricky as pulling a heist for everything depends on timing. With Rajathandhiram, AG Amid has managed to perform the trick very convincingly — the filmmaking is quite nimble and confident that it is hard to believe that this is the work of a debutant director...Rajathandhiram will certainly find a place among the best films of the year".one of the best of its kind. Movies of this kind should be appreciated and welcomed in Tamil cinema. ^[8] Sify wrote, "Rajathandhiram is a con-caper laced with revenge, wit, humour & romance. What works here is director Amid's smart writing and brilliant screenplay sans all the normal cliches seen in such genre...it's a perfectly satisfying watch".^[9] Indiaglitz rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "the treatment of Rajathandhiram is a big plus. The performance of the lead roles and the way the protagonist is clashing with the villain is definitely a new chapter in the book of the screenplay".^[10] Behindwoods.com rated it 2.75 out of 5 and called it "A smart con movie which entertains".^[11]

References

External links

• Rajathandhiram at the Internet Movie Database