Raayan trailer: Dhanush channels Baasha in this intense action drama

Tamil star Dhanush on Tuesday unveiled the trailer for his upcoming movie, Raayan, which is special as it marks his 50th movie in his career. To ensure this landmark movie remains memorable, he has also taken on the roles of writer and director, besides essaying the titular role.

Raayan seems like a proper genre movie mixed with a lot of emotional moments. It revolves around a local rowdy and his battle with a slew of other rival members in the underbelly of the Chennai underworld. The trailer begins with a seemingly simple question: What is the most dangerous animal in the jungle? The obvious answer is the lion. But, street wisdom knows better. "Lions and tigers are the strongest. Not the most dangerous. Hyenas are the most dangerous animals in the jungle," says a wise man, played by Selvaraghavan.

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The reason, unlike the Big Cats, hyenas don't attack their rivals directly. Instead, they plot and use cunning ways to surround, trap, and kill the lion. Now, it's fairly easy for us to guess who is the lion and who is the hyena, right? Of course, Dhanush's Raayan and his friends are the lions, who we should root for, and the rest of the characters belong to the hyena slot, who we should root against. But what if Raayan is the one who uses trickery and deceit as his primary weapons to wage war against his enemies?

In the trailer, a cop asks Raayan what he said to the complainant that made him immediately withdraw the complaint against him. And then we quickly see shots of Raayan indulging in sheer violence against his enemies. He then feigns innocence and tells the cop, "I begged them to."

The scene seems like Dhanush's nod to Superstar Rajinikanth's Baasha, where he reveals his true identity to the founder of a college who tries to sexually exploit his kid sister. Similarly, Raayan hides his true self and presents an innocent demeanor to the world, which is the very definition of cunningness.

Raayan also stars SJ Suryah, Prakash Raj, Sundeep Kishan, and Kalidas Jayaram among others.

Raayan is due in cinemas on July 26.

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