Review: Draupathi

Film: Draupathi

Director: Mohan G
Cast: Rishi Richard, Sheela Rajkumar, Karunas, Nishanth, Soundarya, Seshu, Lena Kumar and others
Cinematography: Manoj Narayanan
Music: Jubin

Director Mohan G’s Draupathi is a fairly interesting action-drama that revovles around the issue of honour killings. The film, through its story, showcases a side of honour killings that not many know of.

Prabhakar (Rishi Richard), wrongly named suspect in the case pertaining to the death of his wife Draupathi (Sheela Rajkumar) and his sister-in-law Lakshmi, comes out on bail. His only mission is to fulfill his wife Draupathi’s vow and for this, he is willing to go to any extent.

An enraged Prabhakar begins to stalk those who have ruined his family in the hope of exacting revenge. The first on his list is a lawyer called Karnan who, in the garb of performing inter-caste marriages, looks to extort money from the parents of gullible girls. Karnan is a criminal, who along with his coterie that includes a powerful politician pretending to work for oppressed classes, recruits young boys to lure rich girls from well to do families in certain communities in the name of love.

Once the boy sent by Karnan wins the confidence of the girl, he convinces her to elope with him. The couple is usually married after which the girl is at the mercy of Karnan and his associates. Karnan then uses her vulnerability as a bargaining chip to extort money from her parents. The parents, fearing for the safety and honour of their girl, cough up huge sums as ransom to Karnan and his coterie.

But what have Karnan and his coterie done to Prabhakar that is making him seek revenge? What is the vow that his wife Draupathi has taken? More importantly, why has she taken it? Does Prabhakar manage to get his revenge and fulfill his wife’s vow? Draupathi gives you the answers.

The film has a plot that is significantly different. It also has substance. However, the casting and manner in which it has been made leave a lot to be desired.

For instance, the actors chosen to play the cops in the film don’t look the part.This doesn’t help the director’s cause of making an engaging film. Then, there are some actors who either overact or are found wanting. All of this reduces the impact the film could have had.

On the other hand, the film showcases an angle to an issue that was never highlighted before. It also speaks of rampant corruption at the registrar’s offices which enable certain people to procure marriage certificates for girls who are not even present at the registrar’s office at the so-called time of wedding. It highlights how certain people, using these corrupt practices, procure fake wedding certificates to threaten girls and their parents. The film makes a strong plea for having CCTV cameras at all registration offices and insists on having all weddings recorded on camera.

The film has a couple of good performances and these come in from its lead actors Rishi Richard and Sheela Rajkumar. The film also has an impressive background score by Jubin. The film’s music is one of its highlights is in fact, its strongest pillar of support on the technical side.

On the whole, Mohan’s Draupathi is fairly interesting and presents a totally different perspective to the issue of honour killings.