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Raayan is a 2024 Indian Tamil language-language neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by Dhanush. Produced by Kalanithi Maran's Sun Pictures, the film stars Dhanush in the titular role, alongside Dushara Vijayan, S. J. Suryah, Sundeep Kishan, Kalidas Jayaram, Selvaraghavan, Prakash Raj, Aparna Balamurali, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Saravanan, Dileepan and Divya Pillai. The story follows a food truck owner in North Chennai who struggles to protect his family when they inadvertently get muddled in a war between two rival gangs.
The film was officially announced in January 2023 under the tentative title D50, as it is Dhanush's 50th film as a leading actor, and the official title was announced in February 2024. Principal photography commenced in July 2023 at East Coast Road in Chennai along with Adhitya Ram Studios, where most of the filming took place. This was followed by another schedule held in Karaikudi, and wrapped by mid-December. The film has music composed by A. R. Rahman, cinematography handled by Om Prakash and editing by Prasanna GK.
Raayan was released worldwide on 26 July 2024 in theatres. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over ₹160 crores worldwide, emerging one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2024.
Years later, Raayan is a food truck owner in North Chennai; Manickam is a college student; and Muthu is a hot-headed alcoholic who is in love with Meghalai. Sekhar supports Raayan and his family as a good family friend.
Durai and Sethuraman "Sethu" are two gangsters who are rivals in the area and have a feud with each other after Durai killed Sethu's father. R. Sargunam, a recently transferred police commissioner who has a personal enmity with Durai due to the murder of his father by Durai, wants to create a conflict between Sethu and Durai and kill them both in an encounter. One day, Sargunam sends a group of hired goons to ambush an attack on Sethu, who kills all of them. Sethu, believing that Durai was responsible for the recent attack on him, sends his men to kill Durai's son, who was at the local bar. Muthu, who was also present at the bar, gets into a broil with Durai's son and his gang. Seeing this, Sethu's gang infiltrates their altercation with weapons and amidst the chaos kills Durai's son. Muthu ends up being the sole survivor. While most people believe that Sethu killed Durai's son, Durai finds out about Muthu and tells Raayan to hand over Muthu within 24 hours. However, Raayan, together with Muthu and Manickam, kills Durai and his gang.
Sethu, who is confused about Durai's death, finds out about Raayan and his brothers' involvement in his death and calls Raayan for a meeting. He requests Raayan to join his side and promises him and his family protection from the police, but Raayan refuses. Sethu begins to threaten Raayan, who in turn, also begins to threaten Sethu indirectly without outrightly stating that he is indeed the killer. Sethu then tries to assassinate Raayan by sending his goons, but one remaining henchman flees back to Sethu with the news that he witnessed Raayan singlehandedly killing all his henchmen there. Around that time, Raayan was planning Durga's wedding with a government employee and agreed to shoulder the responsibility of the event expense around 5 lakhs and dowry, leaving him in dire need of money. At the groom's family's request for dowry, Raayan agrees to hand over his profitable mobile hotel and all their bank savings to the groom's family.
Fearing for their future, Raayan plans to kill Sethu the night before Durga's marriage by entering Sethu's second wife, Annam's, house in an ambush attack. However, Raayan finds Durga tied up in that house, realises it is a trap set by Sethu, and fights Sethu's henchmen who ambushed him. However, on escaping, Sethu's henchman Guru abducts and sexually assaults Durga. Meanwhile, it was revealed that both Muthu and Manickam, who were not able to land a job quickly, were now working for Sethu to supplement their household expenses; at realising their target was their brother, they panicked and stabbed him. After escaping from Guru, Durga runs back to where she left Raayan and saves him by admitting in a nearby clinic.
Sethu's gang tries to kill Raayan in the clinic, but he is saved by Durga and Sekhar. The trio escapes to an isolated house far from the city, and there, Durga learns about Muthu and Manickam's betrayal. Meanwhile, Muthu and Manickam continue to work for Sethu, while Meghalai gives birth to Muthu's child. After almost a year, Raayan recovers from his injuries and kidnaps Annam; he asks Sethu to send Guru to him in place of Annam as he was behind Durga's rape. Sethu accepts, and Guru gets killed by Durga.
Manickam wanted to amend things with Raayan and Durga; therefore, he requests Sekhar to arrange a meeting with Raayan and plead for mercy. Overhearing the conversation, Sethu tricks Manickam and uses this opportunity to make Sekhar reveal Raayan's whereabouts, but he refuses and is killed by Sethu. His body is hung for public display and brings out Raayan and Durga from their hideout. Sargunam uses this chance to arrange a meeting with Raayan and Sethu for a public compromise; however, he was secretly planning on killing them all in a common location. However, Sargunam changes his plan as there were many goons of Sethu with him, and carries out his backup plan, that is a deal that he made with Raayan; in exchange for eradicating Sethu and his gang, Raayan and Durga were promised freedom, safety, and a new identity. During Bhogi celebrations, Durga stabs and kills Manickam for betraying Raayan. In the ensuing fight, Raayan kills Sethu and his gang brutally, and finally, but hesitantly, killing Muthu.
The next day, Sargunam waits for Raayan with the money, but his real intention was to kill him so that Sargunam's deals would not be leaked. However, Raayan was clever enough to figure out his plan and not arrive at their meeting spot. Meghalai gives her child away to Raayan and Durga, citing that she does not want a child of his bloodline. Raayan and Durga pack their belongings and leave to Coimbatore for a peaceful life.
In early March 2019, some reporters claimed that the venture was shelved, saying it was only shot in few bits, mainly due to the cast's schedule. Others reported that it was not shelved, but was instead put on hold, as Dhanush was busy filming for Asuran (2019). In June 2020, Dhanush's elder brother Selvaraghavan was reported to have been approached by the actor to direct a part of venture, as Dhanush was busy with other commitments. The project was later put on hold. However, it was reported that it would begin after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, which was later proven false. In January 2023, it was reported that instead of reviving the script, Dhanush would write a new script, to be funded by Kalanithi Maran of Sun Pictures. The production house officially announced the project on 18 January, and was tentatively titled D50. The film's official title, Raayan, was revealed on 19 February 2024.
Selvaraghavan, Prakash Raj, Aparna Balamurali, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, and Saravanan would reportedly play prominent roles. Varalaxmi would collaborate with Dhanush again after Maari 2 (2018) with this film. All of their inclusion were confirmed by the production house in late-February 2024. Dhanush had approached musician Deva to play the antagonist in the film as he wanted someone who could speak the North Chennai dialect; however, Deva declined the role.
Anusha Sundar of OTTplay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "... Yes, the writing is bogged down by certain uncertainty and convenience, which does not let many characters to get developed, and in fact get eliminated before they are got to known. But Raayan is also a valiant effort of Dhanush’s that lets many departments shine through, and plays out a canvas for a experimentation in commercial cinema." Janani K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Dhanush's 50th film is a simple revenge story. The interval block shows streaks of brilliance of his directorial skills. However, as a writer, 'Raayan' lacks emotional depth. For the revenge angle to work, emotions matter." B. V. S. Prakash of Deccan Chronicle gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Dhanush turned director for this film and relied on gore and violence revolving around a wafer-thin plot. This is truly disappointing since some of his films like Asuran and Karnan had boasted of bold themes in the past." Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Dhanush’s Raayan totally packs a punch and is a must-watch for its captivating performances and unexpected story twists. It’s a stellar 50th career film for Dhanush." Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "In his sophomore directorial, Dhanush attempts to turn an ordinary story into something more with a well-written setting and measured storytelling, but falls disappointingly short."
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