Rajadrohi Movie Review: yesterday’s film on today’s screen

By Susmita Sameera The movie begins in a tea shop, where a filmmaker comes across an article titled Madrasi. Inspired by its content, he decides to make a film. Alongside the main narrative, the movie also explores the film industry, portraying the personal and professional struggles that filmmakers face. The core story revolves around Shivu (Ajith Parimal), who was raised in an ashram run by Guruji (Avinash). Shivu travels to Chennai to get his visa approved before moving to London. On the bus, he meets Priya (Manasa Shivanna), and a small misunderstanding eventually leads him to a hotel owned by Annapoorneshwari (Lakshmi). He is accompanied by his friend Madhu (Sharan). At the hotel, they meet Annapoorneshwari’s son, Kashi (Yogesh Veerahanumanth), and soon become aware of the local troubles involving goons. While waiting for his visa approval, Shivu develops a romantic connection with Priya, but also gets caught up in the escalating gang wars. This lands him in jail, where he meets Gowda (Anant Nag), a farmer who ensures that all new inmates are fed. The narrative then unfolds through flashbacks, revealing the characters’ pasts and identities, and centres on how Shivu navigates the chaos he has been dragged into. This is not a newly shot film; it is largely composed of older footage, with a few newly re-shot scenes. As a result, the story flow suffers, with noticeable jumps and missing continuity, making it difficult to follow. If you’re expecting a Sharan-led film, he only plays a supporting comic role. Fans hoping to see Lakshmi and Anant Nag together after a long time will be disappointed—there isn’t a single scene featuring them together. Anant Nag also appears only for a very short screen time. Overall, the movie is messy and poorly executed, both in its storytelling and in technical aspects such as music and cinematography. Since it’s mostly a compilation of old footage stitched together, it often fails to make sense.