BASIC DETAILS

Movie Name:	Ratsasan

Language:	Tamil

Director:	Ram Kumar

Principal Cast:	Amala Paul, Vishnu Vishal, Saravanan, Abhirami, Ramdoss, Suzane George, Nizhalgal Ravi, Vinod Sagar

Release Date:	05 October 2018

*Run Time (minutes):*	145

Streaming on:	Disney + Hotstar

OUR RATING

SYNOPSIS

A serial killer is on the prowl, looking to kidnap and brutally murder 15-year-old schoolgirls.

Investigating the case is a newbie police officer who aspires to direct a film based on a fictional serial killer and conducts extensive research on past serial murders. He has been inducted into the police force on the recommendation of his brother – in – law who is a police officer. While his inexperience is in itself an impediment, the fact that his senior officer treats him with a high degree of contempt further hampers his morale.

Will the police officer be able to apprehend the dreaded murderer? Is there a link between the schoolgirls who are kidnapped and murdered? What is the serial killer’s motive? And what is it that turned a pure – minded human being into a demon who unleashes terror on the hapless victims?

WHAT WORKS?

ENGAGING FROM THE GET – GO

The earliest thing to notice about this movie is that it does not intend to spend any time in building up the characters and instead wants to spend time in building up horror amongst the audience from the get – go. The initial scene itself depicts a brutal and gruesome murder taking place as a part of a film shoot while in the next scene, you see 2 elderly men being led to discover the body of a 15-year-old school girl inside a cement pipe by 2 dogs. And from here on, the film seems to be in a perpetual crescendo.

THE PERFORMANCES

The performance of the main cast as well as the supporting cast is simply outstanding, as detailed in the ‘Performances’ section.

VERY FEW DISTRACTIONS

Many films from the South Indian film industries which may fall into the action or thriller genre somehow seem to needlessly wander into unwanted territory in building up a side-track about the romance between the protagonists or to provide comic respite through a supporting character. Ratsasan does none of the above because the director has his focus in the right place. The romance between Vishnu Vishal and Amala Paul seems natural and yet, is not overstretched. Even the lone romantic song in the film is played with the ongoing investigation into the serial murders as the backdrop. And the comic respite is brief and achieved in moments which involve the protagonists only.

MINIMUM CHARACTERS

It must be said that the director has provided personality layers only to the characters which are extremely essential to the script and the screen time of characters who are not connected with the investigation is kept to a bara minimum. A case in point being that the screen time of Ramdoss, the brother – in – law of Vishnu Vishal’s character and part of the investigating team, is considerably larger than the screen time of Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, who plays Vishnu Vishal’s sister.

HIGH ON BRUTALITY, LOW ON GORE

It would be incorrect to assume that a film which has too much of brutality and torture has elements of blood and gore. That this film successfully avoids exposing the audience to these elements and yet manages to spook them is down to the haunting background score of Ghibran and the editing by San Lokesh.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK?

THE MOTIVES OF THE ANTAGONIST

There have been films in the past where the motive of the antagonist has played a crucial role in lending a semblance of believability to the proceedings in the movie. After all, it was the quest of power and money and the wily ways he designed to achieve them that made Arvind Swamy’s character of Dr. Siddharth Abhimanyu in Thani Oruvan immortal. In this movie though, the motive of the antagonist to commit the serial murders seems silly! And yes, I am being lenient towards the movie when I use this phrase.

OVERSTRETCHED CLIMAX

While any film from any industry tends to focus a lot on its climax, this film takes it a few steps ahead by involving elements of magic and some action that can only be called ridiculous. Further, in the end, Vishnu Vishal receives a call that is supposed to provide the film with an ideal ‘happy’ ending. However, it is precisely this element that seems extremely unrealistic.

THE PERFORMANCES

MAIN CAST

VISHNU VISHAL

As someone who associated the Tamil film industry with legendary actors like MGR, Rajanikanth and Kamal Hassan, actors who got into the skin of each character such as Ajith Kumar, Vikram, Ilayathalapathi Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi, I had never heard of Vishnu Vishal before I saw this film. He does have the physique required of a policeman and showcases a range of emotions through the film.

He aptly shows the humane side of his character when, as an aspiring film director unwillingly forced to join the police force, he comes across a woman being arrested for the murder of her husband who was harassing their daughter. As well as the gritty and determined side of his character when, much later in this film, he embodies the various qualities required of a policeman as he goes about solving the case through a combination of application of mind and action sequences that are the hallmark of the Tamil film industry.

AMALA PAUL

Amala Paul, even as the love interest of the protagonist, does not have much screen time to display her acting skills considering that the entire focus of the film is on Vishnu Vishal and the surrounding case. However, even in the limited screen time she is provided with, she gives a good performance as a school teacher raising her deceased sister’s speech impaired daughter on her own and someone who backs the protagonist to the hilt.

THE ANTAGONISTS

What truly elevates the film to a different level, however, are the performances of Vinod Sagar (as Inbaraja, a paedophilic school teacher whose portrayal of lust and fearlessness of the consequences is something unseen before) and Saravanan (in a dual role as the antagonists Mary Fernandez and Christopher Fernandez who takes brutality, gruesomeness and lunacy to a different level). It is the performance of Saravanan which lends credence to the title of the film, which means ‘demon’ in Tamil.

SUPPORTING CAST

No film can work solely on the basis of the performances of its lead cast. This film is held together by the performances of its supporting cast mainly, Abhirami (as Ammu, the protagonist’s nephew), Ramdoss (as the protagonist’s brother – in – law who forms a vital part of my favourite scene described below), Nizhalgal Ravi (as a doctor running a morgue) and Suzane George (as the commanding officer of the protagonist who views him as nothing short of a nuisance).

THE SOUNDTRACK

Apart from the performances put in by the ensemble cast, what ensures that a chill runs down the spine of every audience member is the accompanying soundtrack by Ghibran which lends a haunted feel to the entire movie. There is rarely any scene which lacks a sense of impending doom and fear and suspense creeping in slowly. The critical role that the background score plays in the film can be ascertained by the fact that while actual songs constitute just 14 minutes of the film’s running time, the background score takes up 54.

FAVOURITE SCENE

Where the entire movie follows Vishnu Vishal and Ramdoss working with the rest of the police force to chase down the murderer, there is a scene where the two suffer from the loss of a close family member to the brutality of Saravanan. While Vishnu Vishal aptly portrays the horror of seeing the dead body of a family member who has been tortured and murdered, what follows is him trying to stop Ramdoss from seeing the dead body and experiencing the degree of pain he is currently experiencing. The resultant expressions from both actors and the accompanying background music is enough to make you feel weak in the knees.

SUMMARY

If you are interested in watching a movie that will keep you hooked and on the edge of the seat for a substantial duration of the film and prefer movies that scare you with their sheer brutality, this one’s for you!