Ratchasan - the piano is ‘key’
Indian movies that explore the serial killer genre are few and far between. The last one i saw was Raman raghav 2.0 which, though brilliantly made, was indulgent towards being as twisted and neurotic as possible. Hence, it was a pleasant surprise to finally catch up with Ratchasan, a movie i would call the best in this genre over the last decade or so, without any hesitation. Ratchasan focuses on the procedural of the serial killer and the methodical unraveling of the quirks by a cop who has a burning desire to direct a gripping thriller movie (a superbly effective vishnu vishal).
The director, Ramkumar, sets up scenes with spectacular atmosphere where he is more than aided by Ghibran's brooding background score. In fact the piano, which forms itself into the title of the movie, adds lot of key elements that come together in a breathtaking manner as the story progresses. Ghibran uses strings to chilling effect and would probably deserve a major portion of the raving reviews that Ratchasan got. Ramkumar also comes up aces with respect to the design of the serial killer's looks. The final minutes involving the reveal and subsequent cat-and-mouse between the killer and vishnu vishal literally sent chills down my spine. There is lot of visual poetry involved, especially when ramkumar uses duality, wherein two parallel sequences play out. There were a few sequences that did feel unnecessary, but the framing and direction of even these sequences (the one involving the abusive school teacher, even though unnecessary, was superbly shot) compensates for their seeming detachment from the core plot.
That this movie went on to become one of the biggest commercial successes of 2018, did not surprise me. What did surprise me was the fact that the director who made a frothy but rooted comedy like Mundasuppatti has gone on to make a sophomore that contrasts his debut in every way possible. And the very fact that he has achieved this by retaining the core cast of his first film speaks volumes about his ability as a director and also the range of performance that this core acting team can deliver (’Munishkanth’ Ramadoss is spectacular in a stretch that is high on emotions while ‘Kaali’ Venkat delivers a solid, understated performance). This only makes my wait for his next all the more eager.
Ratchasan, like any movie, starts with a title card that says the producer "proudly presents".
For once, that statement is every bit justified by the movie.
