RajadhiRaja

RajadhiRaja is a 2014 Malayalam-language action thriller film, directed by Ajai Vasudev and written by the duo of Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas. The film stars Mammootty, Joy Mathew and Siddique, alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Joju George, Raai Laxmi, Mukesh Khanna, Raza Murad, Sijoy Varghese, Rahul Dev and Nawab Shah.

The film released on 5 September 2014 to mixed reviews. The movie is an adaptation of A History of Violence

Plot
In Chittur, Ayyappan is a petty thief who visits his relative Shekarankutty, a gas station owner, leading a happy family life with his wife Radha and his daughter Sreedurga. One day, Shekarankutty is arrested by the police on suspicion of him being a crime boss called Raja in Mumbai, but is released as the police could not confirm that he was the suspect. That following night, Shekarankutty and his family are attacked by a group of gangsters whom Ayyappan had a fight once. The next day they shift their house. As Shekarankutty and Ayyappan go to meet the police commissioner, they are followed by the same gang that attacked them. As they are rounded up, Ayyappan tries to flee, but stops when seeing Shekarankutty beating up them, thus revealing his identity as Raja. After the fight, Shekarankutty reveals to Ayyappan about his past.

Past: Raja arrives at Mumbai with an ambition to become a businessperson, but instead got a job as a cab driver where he met his boss Krishna Vamsi who offered a life in the Indian underworld to gain money and fame. Raja kills Radha's brother Chandru, one of Vamshi's men in an attempt of saving Chief Secretary Mahindra Varma's daughter who was kidnapped. Varma was his old friend who changed him and gave a new life. Radha and her family was unaware that Raja killed Chandru.

Present: Raja (Shekarankutty) is threatened by Vamshi, that his family will be killed, but he manages to save his family in the nick of time. Later, Raja is sent by his former boss to kill Varma who is the Chief Secretary in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu on the occasion of Varma's daughter's wedding. As Raja is indebted to Varma for the help he had done in the past, Raja can never kill Varma, but Raja's boss and his associates are adamant on killing Varma, where they take Raja's family hostage and threaten to kill them unless Mahindra Varma is brought to them.

Mahindra Varma tells that he too loves his family like Raja, where Raja brings Mahindra Varma to Ahmed Shah. Raja reveals that he killed Vamshi before arriving at the place with the help of his friend Sikandar, whose family was killed by Vamshi in a bomb blast. Shah and his men try to kill the Varma, but Shah and his men gets killed by Raja. Later, Raja manages to hide his past and lives a happy life as Shekarankutty with his family.

Cast

 * Mammootty as Rajashekharankutty / Shekharankutty alias Raja
 * Raai Laxmi as Radha, Shekharankutty's wife
 * Siddique as Mahendra Varma IAS, Chief Secretary
 * Joju George as Ayyappan
 * Raza Murad as Krishna Vamshi
 * Mukesh Khanna as Sikhander
 * Joy Mathew as Karim Shah
 * Nawab Shah as Sathya
 * Rahul Dev as John Tiger
 * Sijoy Varghese as Chandru, Radha's brother
 * Babu Namboothiri as Gangadhara Menon, Shekaran's Father
 * Lena as Vidyalakshmi
 * Bheeman Raghu as DYSP Paulose Pothen
 * Abu Salim as Sandeep, a security officer
 * Kazan Khan as Khalid
 * Ravi Prakash as Devilal Patel
 * Assim Jamal as a gangster
 * Taniya Stanley as Ammu, Mahendra Varma's daughter
 * Nelson as Kuttappan
 * Shaju as Man fighting at Petrol pump
 * Sethulakshmi as Paruttiyamma
 * Baiju VK as CI George
 * Baby Eva as Sreedurga
 * Baby Karen Mejo as Mahendra Varma's little daughter
 * Unni Mukundan as Mahendra Varma's son-in-law (cameo appearance in the song "Kanninu Kannin")
 * Shamna Kasim as a dancer (cameo appearance in the song "Dhan Than" )

Soundtrack
Two songs were composed by Karthik Raja and one song ("Midumidukkan") was composed by the duo Berny–Ignatius.

Critical response
Deepa Soman of The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Rajadhiraja is a winsome film with enough moments to entertain you this Onam season." Sify wrote "Rajadhi Raja is a mimicry of some tasteless masala flicks, which are seriously outdated. This one has perhaps been aimed at the hardcore fans of the superstar." IndiaGlitz gave 6 out of 10 stars and wrote "In the final analysis, 'Rajadhiraja' doesn't offer any freshness in narratives. But it can be fine for a one-time watch, if you are not in theatres with any big expectations." Paresh C Palicha of Rediff gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Rajadhi Raja proves to be a lacklustre Onam release" Unni R Nair of Kerala9 gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Just about good entertainment watchable if you know what to expect..."

Box office
The film grossed close to inr 140000000 in eight days from the Kerala box office.