Ranam (2018 film)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ranam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNirmal Sahadev
Written byNirmal Sahadev
Produced by
  • Anand Payannur
  • Rani
    Lawson Biju
Starring
CinematographyJigme Tenzing
Edited bySreejith Sarang
Music byJakes Bejoy
Production
companies
  • Yes Cinema Production
  • Lawson Entertainment
Distributed byGoodwill Entertainments
Release date
  • 6 September 2018 (2018-09-06) (India)
Running time
136 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Ranam (transl. Battle), also known as Detroit Crossing, is a 2018 Indian

action thriller film written and directed by Nirmal Sahadev. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Rahman and Isha Talwar in the leading roles.[1]
It was released on 6 September 2018. Upon release, the film mostly received mixed reviews.

Plot

A wounded person named Aadhi narrates that how Detroit, the city that is situated on the Canada–United States border, lost its charm some decades back, where he makes some curious comparisons to the plight of some of the upper caste households losing their might in Kerala and also describes how much everyone suffers from escaping to Toronto. Aadhi, who was formerly working for Sri Lankan drug lord Damodar Ratnam as his drug dealer and middleman, is now working as a mechanic at a car workshop owned by his uncle Bhaskaran, whose son Aju has a crush on his classmate Deepika, the daughter of Seema, who gave birth and got married at a young age.

Deepika, who is a drug addict, has no respect for Seema. Moreover, Rajan, who is Seema's husband, currently has no regard for her as a wife. Being a corrupt banker, Rajan is flirty and has extramarital affairs with his female colleagues and secretary. Ahmed, an

Redex
via Aju's friend, who is Damodar's aide. Aju is saved by Aadhi before he gets caught by the cops. Bhaskar sends Aju to live with his relative.

Deepika, who had fallen for Aadhi (whom she always meets with Aju), leaves her house to meet him, but Aadhi asks her to leave, where she refuses and later leaves after forcefully buying a packet of Redex from him. That night, Deepika overdoses on Redex and dies, where Aadhi feels guilty about being responsible. Seema, who is shattered at Deepika's death, leaves her home after finding out that Rajan is cheating on her and continuing his affairs despite his daughter's death. While travelling to Ahmed's house, a group of eve-teasers try to molest her, but Aadhi, who was with Seema all through the journey, saves her from them and safely drops Seema at Ahmed's home. Ahmed's wife is disturbed at Seema's presence which causes Seema to voluntarily leave the house, where Aadhi takes Seema to his own house.

However, Seema is shattered to know from Ahmed that Aadhi is the part of the gang, which lead to her daughter's death where she leaves his house. Damodar plans to trigger a major attack during an important festivity in the city, by killing three important aides of Antoni, the leader of the rival Polish gang. Damodar appoints his brother Selvam, Aadhi and Bhaskaran to carry out his operation. Aadhi is directed to park a car at the lot of a building in the heart of the city where the Polish gang is to have an emergency meeting. During parking of the car, Aadhi finds a bomb at the rear end that will blast in one day's time. Bhaskar fails to carry out a killing commissioned by Damodar, who later kills Bhaskar.

Enraged, Aadhi finishes Selvam and confronts Damodar at the same building in which he parked the car. A fight ensues, in which Aadhi is shot dangerously, but overpowers Damodar and stabs him. It is shown that Aadhi had informed Antoni and his friends about Damodar's location. Antoni and his thugs arrive and kill Damodar by opening fire at him. As Aadhi walks away injured, locking the door. the bomb blasts killing everyone inside. The dangerously injured Aadhi walks to Ahmed's office and collapses. Aadhi had informed Seema to visit his house and check his car, which had an amount of money, and tells that half of it should be given to Bhaskaran's wife and the other half is for herself, and also asks her to leave far off place (Toronto) for a new start. After this, Aadhi suddenly regains consciousness.

Cast

  • Prithviraj Sukumaran as Aadhi, an orphan mechanic raised in Detroit, one of Damodar's top drug dealers.
  • Rahman as Damodar Ratnam, a Sri Lankan Tamilian drug lord, who dreams to own Detroit.
  • Isha Talwar as Seema, a dance teacher in Detroit, who married and gave birth to her daughter at a very young age.
  • Nandhu
    as Bhaskar, a middle-aged mechanic in Detroit; Aadhi's uncle.
  • Arun Baby Mathew as Aju, a high-school student; son of Bhasker.
  • Celine Joseph as Deepika, a high-school student; daughter of Seema.
  • Ashwin Kkumar as Selvan, brother of Damodar, who is often seen as his sidekick during drug dealings.
  • Giju John as Detective Ahmed Siddique, a detective, specialized for drug dealers in Detroit; known for being a polyglot.
  • Shyamaprasad as Chandran, a mediator among drug dealers; who owns a restaurant in Detroit.
  • Shivajith Padmanabhan
    as Rajan Kuriakose
  • Justin David as Sean
  • Santhosh Keezhattoor as Swaminathan, Aadhi's father

Production

Development

The film was first announced by Prithviraj Sukumaran in July 2016 through his Facebook page. He has mentioned that 'Ivide' was his first honest attempt at a cross over the film from Malayalam, and his second one will be 'Ranam/Detroit Crossing'.[2] Ranam is produced by Anand Payannur and Lawson Biju under the banner Yes Cinema Productions and Lawson Entertainment.

Casting

Initially, Mamta Mohandas was cast as the female lead paired opposite Prithviraj Sukumaran, but was replaced by Isha Talwar as the former was unable to allocate dates due to her prior commitment for Carbon. The film's schedule was postponed following certain technical issues.[3][4] Tamil Actors Sampath Raj and Ashwin Kkumar was confirmed by director in March 2017.[5] Malayalam actor Rahman replaced actor Sampath in the role and had joined the cast in October 2017.[6]

Filming

The filming began in

Atlanta, Georgia and Detroit, Michigan to shoot the remaining portions. Over 95 per cent of the film was shot in the United States, and remaining portions in Kerala. Filming was completed in 45 days.[8]

Music

The original soundtrack and

background score were composed by Jakes Bejoy. The title track of the film was released on YouTube
in March 2018, as a part of a promotion. [9]

Ranam (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Ranam (Title Track)"Ajaey Shravan, Neha S. Nair, Jakes Bejoy, Saint T.F.C.5:01
2."Pathiye"Vijay Yesudas4:29
3."Ini Raave"Vidhu Prathap4:37
4."Damodhar (Theme)" 1:02
5."Soul of Ranam" 1:32
Original score
No.TitleLength
1."Intro–Second Chances"1:17
2."Ranam Prelude"2:02
3."Chase"2:42
4."Damodhar Ratnam"1:01
5."Seema Theme"0:36
6."Let Antony Know"1:49
7."Young Love"0:59
8."Sign Boards"1:30
9."Nice Way"0:58
10."Marzaana"2:49
11."Detroit Crossing"2:28
12."Outro–A New Beginning"1:18

Release

Ranam was released on 6 September 2018 across 150 theaters in Kerala.[10]

Reception

Critical response

Ranam generally received mixed reviews. Anjana George of The Times of India gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Ranam is a ferociously intriguing tale which has set a new standard to the Mollywood metro gangster narratives. There is action, violence, romance, hope, helplessness and revenge."[11] Behindwoods gave 3/5 and wrote "Ranam has good performances and strong technical qualities. Like Prithviraj said, Ranam is truly a crossover Malayalam film."[12]

Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Without Prithviraj Sukumaran, Ranam would have been a run-of-the-mill crime story packaged with technical finesse. With him and Nirmal Sahadev's mature direction, it becomes something more than just the ordinary tale at its core."[13] Manoj Kumar. R of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Nirmal Sahadev is ambitious and his sense of style in storytelling is significant. But, his debut film largely winds up being an exercise in style even when it seems it digs deeper."[14]

S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote "The film is quite a mix, with the narrative failing to grip the audience except on rare occasions."[15] Litty Simon of Onmanorama wrote "Ranam can't be hailed as one memorable gangster thriller but definitely it will be among the thoughtfully crafted ones. As Prithvi says, 'second chances are sometimes too costly' and hence probably action movie junkies shouldn't give Ranam a miss."[16]

References

  1. ^ "High voltage action sequences in Prithviraj's 'Ranam'".
  2. ^ "Prithviraj All Set To Join Hands With A Debut Director!". FilmiBeat.
  3. ^ "Mamta Mohandas opts out of 'Detroit Crossing'". The News Minute.
  4. ^ Radhakrishnan, Manjusha (3 February 2018). "Mamta Mohandas talks 'Carbon' and a new phase in her life". Gulf News. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Prithviraj's Detroit Crossing will have Sampath and Ashwin K Kumar". Times of India.
  6. ^ "Rahman joins Prithviraj in Detroit Crossing". Times of India.
  7. ^ "Prithviraj's Detroit Crossing/Ranam starts rolling". Times of India.
  8. ^ Gopalakrishnan, Aswathy (11 April 2018). "There's No Hero Or Villain In 'Ranam': Nirmal Sahadev On His Directorial Debut". Silverscreen.in. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  9. ^ "Ranam's title track has an international appeal and what a treat it is!". Times of India.
  10. ^ "Ranam Trailer Thrills, Release on September 6". Sify. 30 August 2018. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  11. ^ "RANAM: DETROIT CROSSING MOVIE REVIEW". The Times of India.
  12. ^ "Ranam has good performances and strong technical qualities". Behindwoods. 6 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Ranam (Detroit Crossing) movie review: Prithviraj Sukumaran! Prithviraj Sukumaran! Prithviraj Sukumaran!". Firstpost. 9 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Ranam movie review: Prithviraj film favours style over substance". The Indian Express. 8 September 2018.
  15. ^ Praveen, S. R. (8 September 2018). "'Ranam' review: A graft work without novelty". The Hindu.
  16. ^ "Ranam movie review: a costly second chance". Onmanorama.

External links