Raam (2005 film)

Raam is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language mystery thriller film written, produced and directed by Ameer. The film stars Jiiva, Gajala and Saranya Ponvannan, with Kunal Shah, Rahman, Ganja Karuppu  and Murali playing supporting roles. The film was released on 4 March 2005 and slowly became a sleeper hit. It was screened at the 2006 Cyprus International Film Festival, where it won two awards for Best Actor and Best Musical Score for Jiiva and Yuvan Shankar Raja, respectively. The film was critically acclaimed with praise for the performances of Jiiva and Saranya, screenplay, music and cinematography. The film was remade in Hindi as Bolo Raam (2009) and in Kannada as Huchcha 2 (2018).

Plot 

The story revolves around a mother-son relationship set in Kodaikanal. The movie commences with Rama Krishna and his mother Saradha, a school teacher, lying in a pool of blood. The police find that Raam is still alive and arrests him on charges of murdering his mother. Police Inspector Umar works on the case. The story is narrated in a flashback. Raam is a mentally affected teenager (later diagnosed as autistic) living dependent on his mother. His over compulsive adoration for her lands her in various problems. Raam is provoked easily and tolerates little wrongdoing around him. Next door lives Karthikayeni, the daughter of a Sub-Inspector Malaichamy. She falls for Raam, but upon telling him how she feels, gets a blunt response from him. One day, Saradha is found brutally murdered. Umar grills each and every person connected to her and Raam. Every possible motive Raam might have for murdering his mother is explored. Raam's neighbours, Malaichamy, and his children are summoned by Umar for interrogation. The police eventually find out that it was Karthika's brother Satish who committed the murder, fearing Saradha would tell his parents about his drug addiction. When Umar confronts Satish and forces him to surrender, Satish fatally wounds him and escapes, injuring his father in the process. On finding her brother's hideout, Karthika tries to plead with him to surrender, but he refuses to do so and ties her up. Raam, seeking vengeance, finds the hideout. A brutal fight occurs between the two, and Raam kills Satish. The film ends as the police find the hideout while Raam is meditating on a dilapidated roof.

Cast

Production 
Ameer revealed while he was working in Nandha (2001), he got to witness an incident in a local news channel where a 20 year old boy sitting near his mother's corpse feeling remorse for murdering his mother which triggered Ameer to make a film on that incident; however he changed the script by not portraying the son as murderer. To portray his character, Jiiva had to remain blank and did a lot of recce and also met a person who had autism and observed his mannerisms. The film took nearly two years to complete.

Soundtrack 
The mudic was scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja. The soundtrack features seven tracks, including one instrumental. All lyrics were penned by Snehan.

Critical reception 
Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "Crafted with care and treated with finesse, Raam is a luminous feather in the maker's cap".  Visual Dasan of Kalki called Raam a miracle cure for rotten taste. M. Bharat Kumar of News Today wrote "Director Ameer needs to be applauded for coming up with a gripping emotional melodrama detailing the travails of an autistic boy, which is sure to impress movie buffs. Engrossing screenplay by the director himself, excellent cinematography by Ramjhi and good background score by Yuvan Shankar Raja add strength to the movie".

Accolades 
At the 2006 Cyprus International Film Festival, Jiiva won the award for Best Actor in a Feature Film, and Yuvan won for Best Musical Score in a Feature Film. He remains the only Indian to have received that award to date.

References

External links 
 

2000s mystery thriller films
2000s Tamil-language films
2005 crime thriller films
2005 films
Films about autism
Films directed by Ameer (director)
Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Films shot in Kodaikanal
Indian crime thriller films
Indian mystery thriller films
Indian nonlinear narrative films
Tamil films remade in other languages