“Dragon” Film Review

Ashwath Marimuthu, the director who made a memorable debut in the film Oh my Kadavule, collaborates for the first time with director-turned-actor, Pradeep Ranganathan in the film, Dragon. This film has already become the number 1 grossing Tamil film of 2025.

Pradeep Ranganathan plays the lead role opposite Kayadu Lohar and Anupama Parameswaran. The supporting cast includes Mysskin, K.S. Ravikumar, Gautham Vasudev Menon, George Maryan, PL Thenappan and Harshath Khan. There are also special guest appearances by the director, Ashwath Marimuthu, Ivana, Sneha, choreographer Sandy and Bjorn Surrao.

Raghavan (Pradeep Ranganathan) is a conscientious student, but when he learns that girls prefer rebellious boys, he takes on the cleverly concocted nickname Dragon, and undergoes a complete change of attitude that is self-destructive but one that wins him lots of attention, albeit of the wrong kind. His college Principal, Mayilvahanan (Mysskin) attempts to reform him but fails. Facing the world without a degree, Raghavan realises that his choices of jobs are now very limited. Taking the advice of one of his friends, he begins a game of deception that would have far-reaching repercussions.

Most directors or writers, when pitching an idea for a film, will reduce the plot to a one-liner. The one-liner for Dragon is basically the entire body of the film and one wonders at the wisdom of using almost 150 minutes of screen time to tell a story that is predictable throughout its very slow pace. The message behind the story is noble, relevant and accessible, but if it takes forever to unfold, and is riddled with giant chasms in logic, it does not make for good cinema.

Fortunately for the team, the majority of critics and international audiences have embraced this film as a masterpiece of some kind. Unfortunately, I found the pace far too tedious.

Despite this major flaw, some of the characterisation in Dragon are strong and credible and these are supported by outstanding acting performances. Pradeep Ranganathan deserves full credit for his superb and credible portrayal of Raghavan, with Anupama Parameswaran providing brilliant support.

A clean-shaven Mysskin, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Wayne Knight with his new look, has an imposing presence in the film, and is his most impressive acting performance to date.

George Maryan, who has recently begun to shine brighter than ever, is in a very memorable role as Raghavan’s father, remaining one of the film’s most memorable characters.

Technically, the film is impressive. Cinematographer, Nikketh Bommireddy has some outstanding shots, with particular attention to very creative framing. I felt that the palette could have been better.

Music by Leon James is good, but falls well below his usual level of excellence.

Ashwath Marimuthu shows a lot of potential as a director if he can keep his script crisper and his screenplay tight. Dragon deserves a watch because of the crucial message it contains.

Dragon scores 6 points out of 10.