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Ratsasan
2018 Indian Tamil film by Ram Kumar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ratsasan (transl. Demon) is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film[2] directed by Ram Kumar. The film stars Vishnu Vishal, Amala Paul, and Saravanan, while Kaali Venkat, Munishkanth, Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, and Abhirami play supporting roles. The film features music and a background score composed by Ghibran, cinematography by P. V. Shankar, and editing by San Lokesh. It tells the story of an aspiring film director who becomes a police officer after his father's death and tries to track down a serial killer.
The film was released on 5 October 2018 to critical acclaim. It was remade in Telugu as Rakshasudu and in Hindi as Cuttputlli.
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Plot
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In the opening scene, two elderly men discover the corpse of Samyuktha, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was brutally murdered. Arun Kumar, an aspiring filmmaker passionate about psychopaths, becomes a sub-inspector in the Tamil Nadu Police under family pressure and help from his brother-in-law, CI Doss. Arun moves in with his sister Kokila, Doss, and their daughter Ammu. After an incident at school involving Ammu, Arun meets her teacher Viji and gradually befriends both her and her hearing and speech-impaired niece, Kayal.
Meanwhile, Arun investigates the abduction of a schoolgirl, Amudha, and notices similarities to Samyuktha’s case, especially a mutilated doll at Amudha’s house. His superior, ACP Lakshmi, dismisses his theory. Soon after, Amudha’s corpse is found. Pathologist Dr. Nandan confirms that the same modus operandi was used. A few days later, another hearing-impaired girl, Meera, is also abducted and murdered.
The investigation leads to Inbaraj, a teacher at Ammu’s new school. Inbaraj, a pedophile, is caught after a victim tips off Arun. Although he confesses to sexual abuse, he denies involvement in the murders. During an attempted escape, Inbaraj holds a policeman at gunpoint but is shot dead by Arun. That same day, Ammu is abducted from her birthday party, and her mutilated body is found in the car trunk. A devastated Arun and Doss hide the truth from Kokila and return home.
Arun is suspended for his actions and begins investigating unofficially. With help from a few officers, he traces a piano tune from Meera’s hearing aid to magician Annabella George, who had performed at all the victims' schools. Arun learns that Annabella randomly selected students during her shows, later abducting and killing them. The next target is a girl named Sanjana. Despite surveillance, she is abducted, but Arun and his team manage to rescue her. However, Annabella escapes.
Arun meets retired cop Rajamanickam, who reveals Annabella’s real identity as Mary Fernandez. Her son, Christopher, has Werner Syndrome (progeria), a condition that causes premature aging. Christopher, a gifted magician and pianist, was mocked at school despite befriending a girl named Sophia. After she rejected his romantic advances due to his condition and avoided him, he was humiliated by classmates. Mary, enraged, murdered Sophia. Both were arrested but presumed dead in an accident.
Rajamanickam suspects Mary may still be alive and warns Arun. But before revealing everything, he is killed. Arun finds clues suggesting that Christopher is alive and has been impersonating Mary, who actually died in the accident. Before he can inform Lakshmi, Christopher attacks Viji and kidnaps Kayal.
Christopher kills Venkat and Dr. Nandan while trying to silence anyone who could expose him. Arun tracks Christopher and confronts him in a violent fight. He ultimately kills Christopher and rescues Kayal, though he is injured.
The case concludes with the media reporting the end of the serial murders. Arun, now recognized, finally gets a chance to make a film about a psychopath, fulfilling his dream.
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Cast
- Vishnu Vishal as SI Arun Kumar
- Amala Paul as Vijayalakshmi "Viji"
- Radha Ravi as Inspector Rajamanickkam (cameo appearance)
- Sangili Murugan as Arun's house owner
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Dr. Nandan
- Kaali Venkat as Venkat
- Munishkanth as Doss, Arun's brother-in-law and Ammu's father
- Naan Saravanan in a dual role as
- Christopher Fernandez (Annabella George)
- Yasar as Young Christopher
- Mary Fernandez, Christopher's mother
- Christopher Fernandez (Annabella George)
- Vinodhini as Kokila, Arun's sister and Ammu's mother
- Suzane George as ACP Lakshmi IPS
- Monica as Kayal, Viji's niece who lives with Arun and Viji
- Vinod Sagar as Inbaraj
- Usha Elizabeth as Arun's mother
- Gajaraj as Gajaraj, Senior Police Officer
- Pasupathi as Pasupathi
- Jai Anand as Anbarasu, Police Officer
- Thangam Paramanantham as Simon, Police officer
- Sanjay as Inspector Durai Raj
- Abhirami as Ammu, Arun's niece
- Raveena Daha as Sharmi, Ammu's classmate
- Ragavi Renu as Sophie, Christopher's love interest
- Trishala in a dual role as:
- Sanjana
- Sangeetha
- Priya as Meera
- Ravishankar as Amudha's father
- Rekha Padmanaban as Amudha's mother
- Geetha Narayanan as Sanjana's and Sangeetha's school principal
- Uncredited
- Nehah Menon as Amudha
- Adhithri Dinesh as Samyuktha
- Akshay as Mahesh, Ammu's classmate also one who loves Ammu
- Kumar Das as Auto Driver Kumar, Inbaraj's helper
- Karunakaran as himself (cameo appearance)
- Ghibran as himself (cameo appearance)
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Production
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Following the release of the comedy Mundasupatti (2014), Ramkumar was keen to do a serious film to avoid being type-cast. He was inspired to write a film on a psycho killer after reading an international news story about Alexander Spesivtsev, and spent close to a year writing a fictional screenplay to fit around the character of a psycho killer. Ramkumar initially struggled to find an actor to play the lead role of a forty-year-old man with a child, and despite working the child out of the script as a result, he still found it difficult to convince actors to sign the film.[3] In April 2017, actor Jai signed the project titled Ratsasan, which was set to be produced by C. V. Kumar of Thirukumaran Entertainment.[4] However, soon after the actor and director dropped out of the project, and producer took the title of Ratsasan with him. Subsequently, throughout the production stage, the film was briefly known as Cinderella and then Minmini, but neither title was kept. The former title was claimed by another Tamil film's producers, while Ramkumar felt the latter seemed too light-hearted. Eventually, the team members managed to amicably convince Kumar to offer them the title of Ratsasan.[3]
Production began in November 2016, with principal photography starting in June 2017. Ramkumar chose to make the film with producer Dilli Babu and starring Vishnu in July 2017.[5][6] Amala Paul joined the cast of the film in late November 2017, with production starting thereafter.[7] In June 2017, the title of the film was changed to Ratsasan.[8] in association with T-series.
Music
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Soundtrack
Ghibran composed the soundtrack and background score of Ratsasan. He began composing the soundtrack in early 2017. He also finished composing the theme music for the film's teaser in August 2018. The album features four songs composed by Ghibran and lyrics written by Umadevi, Ramkumar, Ratnakumar and GKB. One song, "Kaadhal Kadal Dhana", was released as a single on 15 September 2018.
The album was released on 27 September 2018, at the Suryan FM Radio Station, Chennai featuring the composer and other crew members present during the crew members present in the event. V. Lakshmi from The Times of India gave a positive review for the soundtrack and stated "Kaadhal Kadal Dhana" as "a romantic melody, a genre that Ghibran is a master at. Slow and lullaby-like, the persistent strings in the background are soothing, and despite distinct arrangements, the vocals are pronounced enough to make an impact".[9]
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Release
Theatrical
Ratsasan was released worldwide on 5 October 2018.
Home media
The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV.[10] It was dubbed and released in Malayalam language with the same title. The digital rights of the Malayalam version belongs to Disney+ Hotstar.[11] The satellite rights of the Hindi dubbed version, which was titled as Main Hoon Dandadhikaari (transl. I am a police magistrate), was sold to Star India and had a TV premiere on Star Utsav Movies on 31 December 2019. The film was again telecasted a month later with full promotions on TV.[citation needed]
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Reception
The Times of India gave it a 3.5/5, stating that "Ratsasan is a competent thriller, for the most part. There is a tautness to the storytelling, especially until the interval block, that keeps us hooked."[12] Sreedhar Pillai of Firstpost, rated 3 out of 5 stars, stating that "Vishnu Vishal's cop act is superlative but this thriller could've done with some trimming".[13] India Today rated 3 out of 5 stars, and commented "Vishnu Vishal's Ratsasan' is one of the biggest releases in K-Town this week. The film is a carefully-written thriller, that has a few great moments, says our review."[14] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South called it "If you turn a blind eye to the coincidences (say, the plot point around an autorickshaw) and the obvious red herrings (a suspected killer), the bulk of Ratsasan works. Ghibran's terrific score is the aural equivalent of bad airplane food — it makes your tummy queasy. After Mundasupatti and Ratsasan, I'm definitely pumped about what Ram Kumar has in store next".[15] The News Minute, commented about the movie that "The film feels like a mix of all the psycho killer films you've seen before, but this surprisingly works for it."[16]
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Accolades
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Remakes
The film was remade in Telugu as Rakshasudu (2019) and in Hindi as Cuttputlli (2022).[23][24]
References
External links
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