Cast: Jyothika

Directed By: Gauthamraj

Geetha Rani (played by Jyothika) comes to a village as a headmaster of a government school. As expected, the teachers and the students are extremely undisciplined and are not bothered about studies. Geetha steps in and does what is needed for the school. She sets everything right by logical questioning and taking strict action on teachers. She faces a lot of obstacles from politician Ramalingam (played by Hareesh Peradi), who runs a convent in the village. 

The film walks through all the predictability, Jyothika winning the hearts of the students and stands tall like a pillar to the politician.

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However, director Gauthamraj's Raatchasi suffers from a poorly written screenplay. It is uni-dimensional and highly predictable. Throughout the entire film, Jyothika deals with issues with a long dialogue. She keeps giving pep talks to solve problems within minutes. The other problem that Raatchasi faces is that it doesn't have a strong protagonist.

Raatchasi is just another film from a debutant director who is in awe of his heroine’s superstar status and goes overboard on it. In almost every frame of the 134-minute film, Jyothika towers over others and is given powerful dialogues, punchlines and slo-mo shots like a mass hero.

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Despite Jyotika’s earnest performance and here’s another reminder that why she’s one of the best actors among her contemporaries, Raatchasi lacks a soul to be really taken seriously. While it manages to stay mostly relevant in the first half, it got way too melodramatic and problematic in the second half. There are two beautiful sub-plots featuring a father and daughter and Jyotika and a little boy from her school. The latter brings so much warmth into the narrative and genuinely makes you smile, but the film’s other sub-plot never gets properly fleshed out.

Raatchasi is a film you wish you could wholeheartedly embrace, but it ends up being an effort you want to merely discuss and not rave about.