PremiumRasavathi Movie Review: Arjun Das and Santha Kumar's film fails to concoct a worthy watch
Rasavathi is all-over-the-place film that wants you to stay hooked until the final revelation, but at what cost?
Last Updated: 10.54 AM, May 10, 2024
Rasavathi story
Sadasivan Pandi (Arjun Das) is a siddha doctor who practises his medicine in Kodaikanal, the same town where Surya (Tanya Ravichandran) joins in as hotel manager, and police official Parasuraj (Sujith Shankar) takes in-charge at the local police station. As Pandi and Surya, who come with their own fair share of trauma, bond and get closer to each other, it does not seem to sit well with Parasuraj whose villainy nature comes to the forefront with a seemingly visible connection he shares with Pandi from past. But what is it that connects them?
Rasavathi review
If the first half of Rasavathi has to be summarised into one word, it will be mysterious. There are several loose ends and loads of information about the protagonist that we are fed it. He is ace at martial arts and animal rescue, a good Samaritan collecting waste, and even a benevolent and understanding doctor who follows the ethics of medicine and refuses to take a patient who has already been treated by another. He even doesn’t move a finger as he sits by a rock and a white snake crawl by his side. On the other hand, is Surya, who once appears to be guarded, begins to warm up to Pandi and as they get along, much to the chagrin of Parasuraj. The film for most parts wants you to give patronage to the narrative that keeps you questioning the relevance of each of character’s quirks and where the film is heading to. But the film falls flat drastically when its ability to coherently tie up the knots are bluntly shown. For example, the first meeting of Surya and Pandi is that of a passer-by moment, but they sport the same tattoos. But what is the relevance of this? Rasavathi concocts such moments but never brews a perfect potion to tell the story.
For one, Rasavathi packs in a lot of unwanted stuff in its narrative, so much so that, it makes you ponder and guess that these details will somehow add to the revelations at the later stage. But where there are no valid paybacks, there is a sense of disappointment lingering. We are introduced to psychiatrist Sailaja (Ramya Subramaniam), whose patient had gone to Pandi midway her treatment. After she summons Pandi to her clinic, and gives an elaborate lecture on how she is also a part-time movie reviewer, and we also get a meta reference to the director’s previous film Magamuni, there seems a lot of unclear clarity on what the film chooses to splurge its time. Rasavathi, in the sense, becomes a vanity showcase of sorts for director Santhakumar to spill out his personal philosophies even if they don’t line-up with the film’s narrative or storyline.
At its core, Rasavathi is a simple revenge drama that takes a convoluted route to express its intentions. And oh, its intentions too are all over the place. One being, Pandi and his friends during his college days, trying to save a land being turned into a quarry. There isn’t a need to pack in lots of details with no paybacks and contribution to the story.
As much as we are shown about Pandi, we are too, in fact early on in the film, about its antagonist Parasuraj. Coming from the home where domestic violence was engaged and having seen his mother die by suicide before his eyes, he turns sadistic in nature and wants no one to be happy in front of him. In fact, there are also rumours of abetment of suicide of his wife on him talked among his colleagues and pretty much early on in the film, we see him finish off a fellow police officer, affirming the speculation. Why would a man who had seen his mother kill herself, make his wife endure the same pain? Rasavathi builds detailed back stories for all its three primary characters as much as it unwantedly indulges in trying to fit them into a narrative that has no meaning whatsoever. But on the acting front, Sujeeth and Arjun Das get fair share of chunks to show their abilities, while Tanya gets a reserved and limited scope to perform.
Rasavathi verdict
Rasavathi is an all-over-the-place film that wants you to keep hooked until the final revelation. There is a definite but convenient connect at the end, and all seems to fall into the place, but at what cost? And as I finished watching the film, I began to wonder of the narrative moments had no relevance as much as the white snake which keeps making guest appearance twice for no use.