‘Dragon’ movie review: Pradeep Ranganathan entertains and captures the zeitgeist, again

Ashwath Marimuthu elevates Pradeep Ranganathan as the messiah of the middle-class youth, with a necessary story at a time when unemployment, social media-driven envy, and an existential sense of dissatisfaction have gripped youngsters

There’s something so raw and likeable about actor-director Pradeep Ranganathan that you can immediately accept his make-believe as an impressionable Tamil middle-class youth. With Love Today, where he directed himself, Pradeep made a moving impression on the zeitgeist as a familiar boy-next-door, with all his flaws, ticks, beliefs and charm. With director Ashwath Marimuthu’s Dragon, whose story Pradeep has written, it’s clear that the actor wishes to play to his strengths. Written with flair — and with the right amount of commercial cinema elements — Dragon might just about elevate Pradeep as the ‘Tamil Jesus’ of the middle-class youth, who is torn between almost accessible dreams and a stark reality ready to slam the doors shut.

Pradeep appears even more confident in Dragon than in Love Today, and it’s intriguing since the character he plays is nothing like the actor-director whose story we are now familiar with. Ashwath paints a repulsive but amusing image of his flawed protagonist, D Ragavan, who mooches off his employed friends and unabashedly lies to his parents about his employment. When his current girlfriend Keerthi (Anupama Parameswaran) breaks up with him for his debauched, shiftless existence, Ragavan instinctively attempts to choke her — this is a boy conditioned to believe that this is acceptable behaviour.

This youngster allows his worth to be weighed by his romantic partner, conditioned that he is successful only in a relationship. He is an anchorless youth who takes stock of the situation only when his castles of romance collapse. It’s as if he believes that his glass is always half empty without his romantic partner; which is why his high school crush rejecting his proposal left a deep cut while his gold medal in Computer Science and a 96% GPA meant nothing to him. When Ananya justified stating girls like bad boys, he had changed his whole personality for college — becoming Dragon (DRagavaon), the quintessential Tamil cinema ‘college don’ — even recklessly quitting his engineering degree after being confronted by his principal, Mayilvahanan (Mysskin, who impresses with an unusually straitlaced turn).

This time, when his sweetheart Keerthi breaks up with him, Ragavan wishes to prove her wrong and become ‘successful’ by earning a rupee more than her prospective groom; once again, he goes astray, choosing an unethical way to get the job. The gamble works, rocketing him to a level of success and class he seldom imagined. He even gets engaged to a sweet young woman, Pallavi (Kayadu Lohar).

Dragon (Tamil)

Director: Ashwath Marimuthu
Cast: Pradeep Ranganathan, Anupama Parameswaran, Mysskin, Kayadu Lohar
Runtime: 157 minutes
Storyline: A young man’s crooked attempt to become successful lands him in trouble, threatening to destroy his relationship, employment, and family

It’s easy to guess what happens next but thanks to Ashwath, the film never ceases to engage and surprise. The second half, in particular, is a case of our worst fears coming true, and with the stakes in hand, you are almost at the edge of your seat waiting to see how Ragavan fares. The screenplay hits every emotional beat with a certain conviction. With ample comedy in the mix, the writing deftly shifts tone, without deflating the seriousness at the heart of the film. Take for instance the scene in the second half when a character reappears unexpectedly; the twist is shocking, and your heart sinks imagining being in Ragavan’s shoes, but the film doesn’t shy away from mocking him for it. The film also maintains its lens on Ragavan’s flaws, not attempting to justify them, but it also makes a case for the kinder soul housed within.

It helps that the secondary characters are organically set up for necessary pay-offs — be it Mariam George as Ragavan’s father, or popular YouTubers VJ Siddhu and Harshath Khan in notable roles to bring in the comedy quotient. In a hilarious sequence, Ragavan amusingly juggles multiple phone calls, evidently a hat-tip to his popular phone call scene in Love Today. In fact, there are enough references to Pradeep and Ashwath’s previous films; in yet another scenario, you could almost play ‘Kadhaippoma’ from Oh My Kadavule in the background and it would fit.

The script organically brings back ideas previously set, and it’s impressive how these callbacks aren’t done for cheap thrills but for a larger purpose: like a doctor’s advice, or an idea around Mayilvahanam’s car window, or an ID card thrown on a roadblock, or Ragavan’s fondness for cold coffee, or a passing jab about a student studying during a college programme. The second half even provides a platform for some good old heroism, with an innovative fight scene that might have stuck out odd in another film; here, it is also a directive that while you need to be responsible, sometimes you have to stand up for yourself and for those around you.

The film’s only issue comes during one such callback when a certain lead character’s line about guilt lands skewed. You wonder why they believe their action was a mistake; you also wonder perhaps if this could be misconstrued and propagated as a rule for all. Sure, Ashwath’s world of Dragon is so well-rounded that you wonder if this is again what they simply believe. Yet, something about the reveal screams convenience. Again, it seems like the film is so focused on impressing you with larger strokes, that it forgets a few smaller details. This is why another female character’s arc seems to be at the service of the plot, appearing and disappearing at convenience.

In the end, as you leave the screens teary-eyed, you understand that Dragon is the sweet spot between the sensibilities of Pradeep and Ashwath. It’s a thoroughly entertaining dramedy about a boy-next-door, and it also features an imperfect hero who learns a thing or two about doing the right thing. Ragavan may not be cut from the same cloth as Ashok Selvan’s Arjun Marimuthu from Oh My Kadavule but you can see them bond over some parallels.

Like in the case of Sivakarthikeyan’s 2022 film Don(which bears many similarities with Ashwath’s film), stories like Dragon need to be told, at a time when unemployment, social media-driven envy, and a general sense of dissatisfaction have gripped the youth. This is why a dialogue between Harshath’s character and Ragavan on ‘boomer advice’ feels necessary when newer generations are growingly becoming desensitized to human emotions, and anything resembling guidance.

Ragavan’s story is a modern take, an antidote, to the countless Tamil college dramas with heroes proclaiming the swag with which young men should carry themselves. Ask those who were late to realise what ‘gethu’ really means, those who wish they had a time machine to change their college lives, and they would concur with what Ashwath speaks about in Dragon.

Dragon is currently running in theatres

Published - February 21, 2025 05:57 pm IST