Renji Panikkar is back with a cop film, a genre that has been witnessed several times in Malayalam cinema and also appreciated by the viewers. His previous cop film, Bharathchandran IPS, had Suresh donning the role of an honest police officer; in his new film, Raudram, it's Mammootty taking the gun with retaliation to cleanse the system of corruption prevailing in the city.
It's a typical Renji Panikkar film with punch line dialogues and racy narration. Catch your superstar in khakhi for the 26th time stealing the show with his superb dialogue delivery and hard-hitting punch lines.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Narendran (Mammootty), is a fire-band honest police officer who is ready to challenge the big bad guns and fight against corruption in the system. He is not happy with the way the government functions and gallantly performs his duty just like his father (who was also an honest police officer and died on duty). He is often addressed as Nari or Puli for his uncompromising attitude towards his work.
As he is ready to take on his superiors and politicians, whosoever comes his way, he is frequently transferred from one place to another. The macho hero has a beautiful wife, Prabha (Manju), and a seven-year-old son. Prabha, who was a lawyer, is forced to quite her job because of her husband's frequent transfers.
There are some good people in the cop land who support him, including D.I.G. Shahabuddin (Rajan P. Dev) and Thomas Antony (Lalu Alex); among those who are against his loyal ways of working are I.G. Balagopalan (Ramu). Narendran is transferred to Kochi, where on the special request of the Chief Minister, he is entrusted with the responsibility of investigating a murder mystery.
Kamblikandan Jose (Subair) is a local ganja dealer, who gets killed by a lorry. What seems to be a hit and run case, turns to be a murder. As he works on his investigation, Narendran finds that several big men are involved in the ganja mafia, which is creating havoc in the city. He learns that Appachye (Vijayraghvan) and Sethu (Sai Kumar) are the two main culprits behind the drug dealings in the city; they operate with the help of several big names in the government office. How he handles the bad men, facing several hurdles, forms the remaining story.
Though we have seen films based on similar stories before, Raudram really works with an outstanding performance by Mammootty. He excels in every scene, especially the action sequences. His macho image, wonderful dialogue delivery, and powerful screen presence is a treat for his fans.
The other character that remains etched in the mind is the villain, brilliantly played by Sai Kumar. Newcomer Manju forms a perfect pair with Mammootty. Others in the cast, including Lalu Alex, Rajan P. Dev and Vijayaraghavan, provide effective foils to the main actor.
Cinematography by Sanjeev Sankar and editing by Don Max suits the theme of the film. As it's a Panickar film, it doesn't include any song; background music by Rajamony maintains the mood of the film.
