Raavana Kottam Movie Review: A socio-political drama that doesn’t find its way

Raavana Kottam Movie Review: Socio-political dramas follow certain template and mostly build up conflict among sections of people. They either talk about seeking justice or the impact afflicted without any bias. Raavana Kottam is yet another Tamil film that talks caste politics but without proper understanding of the same. The film also deals with several issues including corporate mafia, water scarcity, politics and more. However, none of them make an impact.

Sengu (Shanthnu) is the son of Chandrabose (Prabhu), a man who is the most respected by villagers in the Ramnad district. The village they live is bifurcated as meltheru and keezhtheru where it is established that both sections of people are equal and they co-exist peacefully. Sengu’s love for Indhira (Anandhi) invites trouble between the two most prominent youngsters – Sengu (Meltheru) and Madhi (Keezhtheru). As the whole village burns and endures the loss of several lives in this conflict, Raavana Kottam ends with a emotional note on how villagers are being exploited by politicians for their own benefits.

Raavana Kottam is nothing but a very generic film that doesn’t really get deep into the actual issues which is presented before us. It only tries to touch upon the egos and sentiments of villagers that’s mostly biased for a particular section of people. The film would have been much better if they had taken a stand on how a few people from both the sides are the major reason for the disruption of peace in the village. Instead, Raavana Kottam subtly glorifies certain things that deviate from the main issue.

The central conflict is very poorly constructed and that too, one aspect of it is that, one of the characters is designed to be very dumb trusting certain evil elements in the village. If that conflict had been convincing and powerful, it would have saved the film to a certain extent. Ramnad districts landscape are well-captured and a couple of sequences in the second half are worth watching.

Shanthnu has delivered a neat performance and tries his best singlehandedly to hold the film. However, weak writing, makes things little hard for the viewers to stay engaged. The other technical aspects are decent enough for a film like this. Anandhi’s expression and modulation looks very similar to her role in Pariyerum Perumal but has still managed to do a good job.

Overall, Ravana Kottam is a film that lacks depth and mounts itself on a narrative that’s not impactful enough.