Raja Ranguski review: Fairly entertaining investigative crime thriller that could have been so much more

Actor Shrish, who impressed with his performance in his last film, Metro, which also happened to be his debut film, plays the lead in this investigative crime thriller along with Chandini Tamilarasan.

Although the film has certain drawbacks, the cast and crew seem to have made a valiant effort at delivering a genuine entertainer.

Raja (Shirish) and Baskar (Kalloori Vinoth) are beat constables in a police station, who are assigned the task of patrolling a gated villa community. Everyday the two young constables, apart from patrolling other areas, also go around the community, checking to see if everything is alright there.

Raja falls in love with a young writer Ranguski (Chandini Tamilarasan), one of the residents of the community.

She has a senior citizen for a neighbour called Maria (Anupama Kumar). Raja calls on Maria, an antique collector, everyday to ensure she is okay, primarily because she is a senior citizen staying alone. Maria is a warm, friendly person and the constables respect her age and her willingness to help.

She and Raja are on such good terms that Maria even enquires about whether Raja has told Ranguski about his feelings for her. Raja tells her that he hasn't and points out that Ranguski belongs to the rebel type. 'She does exactly the opposite of what I tell her to do. I tell her not to wear clothes that are short or revealing and she deliberately does that,' he tells Maria, who jokingly advises Raja to then use that to make Ranguski fall for him.

Raja takes her advice and comes up with a plan. Using a new number, he calls Ranguski, pretending to be a secret admirer. The secret admirer tells Ranguski that she belongs to him and that she must stop seeing the beat constable Raja. As expected, Ranguski, being the rebel that she is, tells the stranger to mind his business and does exactly the opposite of what he tells her not to do, which is to meet Raja. Raja's plan of playing a secret admirer succeeds and Ranguski starts meeting him on a regular basis. Eventually, the two fall in love.

It is at this point that there is a twist in the tale. One day when Raja calls on Ranguski, she gets a call. And this time, it is from the secret admirer. Raja is both stunned and worried. If he is seated next to her, who is it that is calling her as the secret admirer? Why is he saying the very same things that he told Ranguski as the secret admirer?

Even as a terrified Raja is wondering what to do next and if whether he should tell her that he was the one who had initially made the calls to her as the secret admirer and that now, somebody else was really making such calls, the secret admirer who had called Ranguski, calls him. He tells him that Ranguski was meant to be his until he came along. He warns Raja to back off. When Raja refuses, he offers Raja a deal. He tells Raja to kill Ranguski as she is the reason for the dispute between them. Raja's fear turns to anger and he refuses. The secret admirer then tells Raja that he himself will kill Ranguski and cuts the call.

Worried for Ranguski's safety, Raja calls Ranguski and asks her to be cautious and lock all doors well. Knowing she will do the opposite of what he tells her to do, he decides to check on her to make sure she is safe. That night as he makes his way from her home, he realises that Ranguski's neighbour Maria's main door is open. Wondering why it is open, he enters her home, only to find Maria murdered. Precisely at that moment, he gets a call from the secret admirer, who tells him that Maria's murder is to be pinned on him. A shocked Raja realises he has just walked into a trap...

The film moves at a fairly good pace for the most part. It has interesting twists and turns and the manner in which Raja, along with his friend and co-worker Baskar (Kalloori Vinoth), tries to track down the killer of Maria is fascinating in parts.

There are some portions though that haven't been well thought out. For instance, the manner in which Raja escapes from the police after he is nabbed by the CB-CID is just ridiculous and hard to accept.

That apart, the basis for certain other murders that happen as the story progresses and the manner in which they happen aren't all too convincing.

Director Dharanidharan seems to have had a great plot, but hasn't fully capitalised on it. He hasn't paid attention to smaller details and they invariably affect the film's overall impact.

Shirish, who looked great in his first movie Metro, does a decent job in this one. He isn't outstanding, but isn't bad either. There are some scenes in this film in which his expressions look fairly inadequate. For instance, immediately after kissing Ranguski, Raja must have ideally blushed. But the manner in which Shirish as Raja handles that sequence makes one wonder if the man is taking part in a slow race.

Similarly, the man has an almost straight, expressionless face as if he couldn't care less while being charged by the police for a heinous crime he did not commit.

Although there are flaws, they are not so big as to declare the film bad.

Chandini plays her part to perfection. Be it the portions where she plays the naive, angry lover and then at a later stage, the evolved, mature woman she turns out to be, Chandini is simply at ease.

The film's biggest strength comes from a relatively unknown actor. Yes, Kalloori Vinoth, who plays Baskar, the beat policeman accompanying Raja on beats, is just fantastic in this film. He has a terrific sense of timing and his one-line retorts to Ranguski and Raja are hilarious. It is Baskar's character that plays an important role in keeping the film entertaining. Although, Vinoth has made appearances in several films, it is only in this film that one is actually getting a chance to understand his real potential as a comedian.

On the whole, Raja Ranguski is a fairly entertaining investigative crime thriller that has a clear message.

If love is to exist, three rules are never to be broken. The first is never lie to the one you love, the second, never cheat your loved one and the last, never pretend to your love. Break any one of these rules, and all hell will break loose.