Film Review/Rudra Thandavam: A movie on nefarious designs of evangelists

"Rudra Thandavam" is the latest released Tamil movie directed by Mohan G and produced by Jayam Gopi. The movie badly exposes the nexus between the urban-Naxal anti-national elements and the conversion mafia generating money for their anti-national activities through illicit drug trafficking, conversion and kangaroo courts. Despite several attempts to stop the movie by fringe missionary elements by issuing death threats to those involved in the film, filing court cases and police complaints, the movie is well received by the common public and running successfully in theatres across Tamil Nadu.

Movie Plot

A tough and honest cop catches two youngsters for selling ganja. One boy succumbs to an injury in the head while chasing. Keeping the boy's future in mind, the cop releases them, filing a petty case, calling their parents, and giving good advice. A few days later, the boy who had a head injury dies in a mysterious circumstance that opens Pandora's box of the boy's brother, a drug peddler leading a public protest against the cop. The protest later turns into a communal angle when a YouTuber reports the incident that the boy hails from the Dalit community and death because of custody. The protest turns into a demand for filing a PCR case on the cop. The cop could not control his guilt surrenders but finds some missing piece of clue in the postmortem report of the boy.

The cop gets bail, and while preventive suspension the cop with his loyal subordinate head constable investigates to find that the boy had already embraced Christianity with proof of baptism and finds how his old enemy Vaathapi (A Local Urban Naxal, Chief of some human rights group) had his hand in influencing the protest, the family of innocent boys, media and Christian missionaries. The cop defends his case with the Christian Conversion angle (which makes the individual ceases to be under Scheduled Category) and the confession footage of the boy's brother, which says that the death of the boy was because of overconsumption of a new type of narcotic drug mixed with chocolate after the head injury for which Vaathapi and his henchmen threatened his family if revealed to police. How the cop wins the case is the climax of the story.

Points to Ponder

• The film exposes how urban-Naxal and anti-national elements deceive youngsters from the Dalit community for mere sum and use them for smuggling drugs, Kangaroo courts, etc., to raise funds for anti-national activities in the state.
• It is shown in the film that how the PCR act, which is meant to protect the SC community, is wrongfully used by anti-national fringe elements to file false cases against those who are against them.
• The particular point of focus is on evangelical pastors such as Mohan C Lazarus and Ezra Sargunam, who not only amaze immense wealth by deceiving poor people in the name of prayer and miracles but also act as a driving force behind anti-national activities and activists.
• At one point, while in the courtroom, the film reveals how Dr. Ambedkar is the leader of the general public and not a caste leader.

Response from Common Public

Mohan G had previously directed two films named Palaya Wanarapettai (Old Washermanpet) and Draupadi. Draupadi revolves around trapping young girls into love by caste fringe elements and Kangaroo courts run by them. Though Draupadi was well received by people belonging to a particular caste, the response from the common public was mediocre due to poor screenplay and technical aspects. But Rudrathandavam, on the other, has a better screenplay, and the director Mohan G has vastly improved in technical aspects. The subtle message in the film on wrongful use of PCR act, conversion activities by missionary mafia and anti-national fringe elements raising money for their anti-national activities through illicit means, were well received by the common public, and they appreciated the guts of director Mohan G for exposing the breaking India forces. Common people expect Mohan G to do many more films in the coming days, exposing anti-national nexus's nefarious agenda.

Points to Ponder

• Before the film was released, the missionary mafia filed court cases, police complaints and death threats to the Rudrathandavam team to sabotage the film's release. But their efforts went in vain, and now the film is successfully running in theatres after all hurdles.
• Not only the Hindus, but even the Christians and Muslims have well received the film. In a movie review YouTube channel, a Christian who watched the movie said, "I am a Dalit converted to Christianity and what Mohan G has said in the movie is absolutely true," The movie received an overwhelming response from people of the OBC community, particularly in Northern districts of Tamil Nadu.
• At places, particularly at Christian majority pockets in Southern districts such as Tuticorin and Kanyakumari, the film was not released due to fear of backlash from Christian organizations.

Response from Media and YouTubers

Before the film was released, director Mohan G and the entire movie team gave several pre-release interviews to the media as part of the pre-release movie promotion campaign. A couple of interviews went controversial as there were fiery exchanges between the director and journalists, as most of them are supporters of DMK and anti-national nexus. This created a massive hype for the film. After the movie was released, instead of focusing on the main focal point of the movie, the majority of the mainstream media, YouTube channels and YouTube movie reviewers were more critical of the technical part of the movie. Some popular YouTube movie reviewers acknowledged that what Mohan G has shown in the movie is an undeniable fact and expected more such movies in the future.

Observation

For the past couple of years, films showing caste persecution against Dalits, Brahmin hegemony, corporate fascism, promoting anti-Hindu hatred, etc., directed by new-age directors such as P. Ranjith, Vetrimaaran, etc. are ruling the course in Tamil cinema. But Mohan G, with a limited budget, has boldly shown the other side of the coin, which is refreshing, desirable and something people anticipated for a long time. Though Rudrathandavam may not be a big blockbuster movie, the core message has reached every Tamil Nadu individual. Common people expect more such movies exposing the anti-Hindu and anti-national nexus. It must also be noted that movie makers like Pa Ranjith have a very good backing for making a movie that is sound in technical aspects like Screenplay, editing, lyrics, choreography, while movies that fit into our narrative lags heavily on such aspects, which will be a big drawback in gathering attention and popularity. In the coming days, the movies or any creativity that fit national integrity must be having a sound technical aspect of production.

Points to Ponder

• The anti-national mafia invests a huge sum of money in creating movies according to their nefarious narrative. There are directors such as P. Ranjith and Vetrimaaran, whose movies are more technically attractive for the audience. Rudrathandavam has an excellent screenplay, but lacks technical quality, which also plays a pivotal role in attracting today's audience. It is important that more people should come forward to invest in creating movies like Rudrathandavam with more high-quality technological factors.
• Movies like Rudrathandavam should also reach the pan-Indian audience, and for that, dubbed versions in Hindi, Telugu etc., should also be released simultaneously to reach the pan-Indian audience. Nationalistic YouTubers and movie reviewers should promote the movie through their respective channels.