Ratchasi Review: A Movie Made With Heart

Ratrelease of its trailer chasi had been in the limelight for quite a short while before its release – especially after the release of its trailer showcasing Jyothika in a rather bold avatar.

The trailer did give an image that the movie would closely resemble Samuthirakani’s Saattai.

One might say that Ratchasi does resemble the storyline of Saattai, however the treatment is substantially different.

The movie starts off with a solid intro to Jyothika. She is on the way (in an auto) to get admission for a girl student in the Government School of R. Pudhur.

On the way, she gets to learn about the unruliness of the school through the auto driver. Further, when she reaches the school and walks through the campus to the Assistant Head Master, she learns how bad everything about the school is (apart from a few exceptions, which she notices too).

And then we are presented with the surprise – that Jyo is the new Headmaster of the school.

She has come with a passion to set things straight.

The staff of the school who had been lethargically enjoying their “government job” status don’t like her and her approaches.

She gets to face issues from a political party, the staff of her school, and a business man who runs a private school.

Despite the various issues she had to face, she overcomes one by one, slow and steady in her own style.

The movie is definitely preachy at various scenes. But we see that is somewhat necessary for a movie like this.

Jyothika plays Geetha Rani, a woman with a firm mind. She is straightforward and goes by the rules.

She wants things straight in her vicinity and refuses to oblige to any sort of requests, pressure or threats.

Jyothika has put forward a solid performance as Geetha Rani. She doesn’t emote more than what’s needed.

Her characterization is given enough depth and that’s a major plus to the movie.

Poornima plays a good teacher role and she has delivered what’s needed. However, we feel that she could have been used a little bit more effectively.

Sathyan plays the PT teacher and he helps lighten the mood of the movie at various places.

We have a cute small boy who has a crush on Geetha Rani and that’s delightful, especially when he happily settles down for a pencil that comes with a rubber on its back!

Geetha Rani’s background and the extremely subtle love track narrated as flashback give justifications to her behaviours throughout the movie.

The songs and the BGM add strength to the movie. Sean Roldan has done a decent job. Especially “Nee en nanbane” was quite pleasant and impactful.

Cinematography is pretty decent too!

So what didn’t work out in Ratchasi?

Well, we couldn’t help but notice some drama on a high note in certain scenes.

Geetha Rani literally fighting goons in a closed classroom is a scene many couldn’t take. Personally, I found it to be fine. And it definitely added strength to her characterization.

However, the villain (played by Hareesh Peradi) could have been made more impactful.

He is obviously annoyed by the changes Geetha Rani makes in the Government school and desperately wants to take her down as a business opponent.

But the plans he makes to execute the same are so dummy! So it is quite easy for the protagonist to take them down one by one.

And, while we understand that there are preachy sequences, some go way beyond what one could preach inside the context of a school.

Did the director try to address too many social issues in one movie?

Nevertheless, I liked Ratchasi for its objective. The movie is definitely made with heart.

It addresses and focusses on a crucial aspect – reformation at the root level that could certainly cause an impact in the whole “system”.

The movie has its minuses, but I am sure one can overlook them for the core aspect the movie tries to deliver – which is indeed delivered pretty decently.