Shanker Ramakrishnan's latest flick 'Rani- The Real Story' is a crime drama that revolves around the death of a politician. The women in politician Dharmarajan's life, including his sister, wife and his mistress are interrogated for answers, while the domestic help Rani is taken into custody.
The premise of the film is interesting and Shanker has ensured an intriguing build-up for the film, that relies a lot on incidents that took place in the past. The titular character Rani is a demure, hardworking domestic help who assists Dharmajan's sister Sheela write his biography. Sheela and Rani share a strong bond, which makes the police investigation difficult.
Bhasi (Indrans), who is a retired police officer, is asked to help cops find the motive and person behind Dharmajan's murder. Is Rani behind the murder and if so, why? These questions form the crux of the film.
Indrans never ceases to amaze us with his performance and Bhasi is yet another character that he brings to life brilliantly. All the actors, including Urvashi, as Sheela, and Maala Parvathi, who plays Dharmajan's mistress, emote their parts convincingly. Tamil actor Niyathi Kadambi has done a fantastic job essaying the titular role. Bhavana's role, though short in the movie, is also effective.
Guru Somasundaram as Dharmajan is an apt actor to play negative shades, though he is yet to outdo his performance as Shibu in 'Minnal Murali'. Though his character in 'Rani' holds a lot of promise, it is not explored much. The women around him, however, capture our attention as their characters are deep and intriguing.
Despite being an engaging film, 'Rani' suffers from the surfeit of characters. Just like Shanker's previous directorial work 'Pathinettam Padi', too many roles affects the film's smooth flow.
It does not have many twists, but the makers have done a decent job in ensuring 'Rani' is not too predictable. Yet, treatment wise, it could have been better. The songs by Mena Melath are soothing, though the background score felt a little intrusive.
