Talk about the will to succeed against all odds and this is a perfect example. Most people in Tamil Nadu had written him off or confined him to the history pages as the ‘karagaattakaran’. But, here he is, almost more than a decade in oblivion, Ramarajan comes back as the leading protagonist in Medhai. The very making and release of the film during the festive season is a huge victory during times when much younger people are struggling to establish a foothold in the industry. But, Ramarajan has come back after a huge gap to deliver his 44^th straight film as hero.

OK. We have to give due respect to the veteran star. Now, down to an objective evaluation of the movie! Medhai, as the name suggests, is about a learned and wise person who stands for justice and the rights of children. But, there are other unscrupulous elements in the society that are scheming towards their selfish ends. But, the protagonist is not willing to be a silent spectator to such exploitation. But, in the process he makes a lot of enemies who scheme against him and land him in deep trouble. How he emerges from these problems is the central plot of Medhai.

The plot, as you can see, is as old as the hills. It could well have been the storyline of one of Ramarajan’s hits during the karagaattakaran days. The problems get even more serious as the look and feel of the film is far from contemporary. It feels jaded and outdated at most places. The camerawork and all other technical aspects are far behind what we have seen in recent times. All these factors combine to give a below par viewing experience in the theatre.

On the performance front, Ramarajan uses all his experience. He is earnest and looks like the righteous character. But, his age shows, and very evidently at that. That makes it hard to swallow his romantic scenes. More care should have been taken on his fitness or his make up. Charlie addressing Ramarajan as ‘thambi’ with the latter definitely looking elder is a glaring mismatch. Kanja Karuppu’s comedy brings nothing more than the occasional wry smile. Other faces in the movie are not familiar and make no mark. Music too leaves no impression. There is however one song that has been shot in a manner that it stays apart from the rest of the film in terms of technical finesse.

Medhai is quite obviously built around Ramarajan and his comeback. One only wishes the film had got a more contemporary story, treatment and better technical aspects. Director MTG Saravana definitely had to pay more attention to all aspects of the movie. Let’s hope that Ramarajan gets something better to prove that he still has a few laps left in him.

Verdict: A tepid comeback bid for Ramarajan