Rajni is a Tamil-Malayalam bilingual investigative thriller that is very similar to how a Tamil director would approach any story based on this genre. There are a few investigation films that were based in Kerala. The last one would be Thangam, directed by Saheed Arafath. Rajni is the story of a man who is on the hunt to find out who killed his brother-in-law. Set in Chennai, the article would take the readers through the lanes and streets that led Naveen and the local police to the killer.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Was Killed?
The movie begins with Abhijeet and his wife, Gouri, heading home after dinner at a friend’s place. They were stranded in the middle of the road, and Abhijeet stepped out to purchase some petrol for the car as Gouri dove off. She woke up to the noise of someone jumping on top of the vehicle and trying to beat someone up. The next day, it is revealed that Abhijeet was killed and Gouri was brought to the hospital by some college students. Everyone witnessed a woman at the scene of the crime, but they couldn’t identify her vision was blurred due to the lack of light and torrential rain. The investigation was handed over to the local police in Chennai. Naveen, Abhijeet’s brother-in-law, was keen to find the murderer as well.
How Was The First Suspect Located?
The first suspect was rickshaw driver Selvam, who was caught in the Petrol station’s CCTV camera, and before that, street cameras caught his vehicle with a woman in it following Abhijeet’s vehicle. On nabbing him, the man confessed to having known the woman by different names. It is implied that the woman was either a prostitute or she was blackmailing Abhijeet all this time over a crime he had committed. As usual, Selvam followed the woman’s instructions and gave Abhijeet a lift to the petrol station, and on the way back, she attacked him in the vehicle. Selvam claims to have not been in touch with her ever since.
Who Was Satya?
The police had a sketch of the woman through Selvam, and he had mentioned the woman used to meet a man named Satya. The police reached out to Satya, who revealed the woman’s name to be Rajni, and said she had been out of touch for a while. Satya claimed to be Rajni’s pimp. The police concluded Abhijeet and Rajni were probably in a relationship followed by a falling out. The murder could be the result of Abhijeet’s infidelity, a theory that is plausible, but Naveen and Gouri were unwilling to believe it. Abhijeet had revealed to his friend that he was being followed by someone. Naveen felt like he was being followed by a woman, and it was probably the killer.
Did The Police Arrest The Wrong Person?
The woman following Naveen attacked Gouri and Naveen’s fiancée. Rajni had kidnapped Gouri and most likely fled the city. In a hurry to nab the woman who was found on the CCTV near Gouri’s home, the police trapped and arrested her in the hotel room. Naveen was quick to point out that the woman they arrested was not Rajni. On heading toward Satya’s home, Naveen concluded that Satya was in fact Rajni.
The lookout notice sent by the police across the newspaper and the police channels with the sketch of Rajni caught the attention of a doctor who had met the same person as the man. The police also concluded it was Satya who is now Rajni after gender reassignment surgery.
Who Was Rajni?
With Gouri being kidnapped by Rajni and no one having any clue where the woman might have taken his sister, Naveen took it upon himself to find answers as the police were completely clueless. Naveen headed to the hometown of Rajni, which was odd as there was no mention of Rajni ever mentioning their hometown. Setting aside a required suspension of disbelief, Naveen reached her hometown to gather more information about the history shared between Rajni and Abhijeet. Naveen had the right to know if Abhijeet was indeed cheating on his sister or involved in a prostitution racket that led to his murder. He had to save his sister in the process, as he was under the impression that Gouri should not be punished for the crimes committed by Abhijeet.
Naveen met a village elder close to Rajni and her brother Satya. From a young age, both were big fans of Rajnikanth. A young Rajni was slowly inclined towards living as a girl, something her elder brother Satya was against. Satya was convinced by the same village elder that each was destined to live a certain way, and they should be allowed to do so and not fall for societal norms. The village elder turned out to be a lot more sympathetic towards Rajni’s state of mind, which led to Satya understanding Rajni’s predicament. Satya sheltered Rajni from every question being thrown. Society was not ready to accept the concept of a boy being raised as a girl and turning into a woman eventually, but Satya and Rajni were happy with the life they were leading.
Unfortunately, Satya, a car mechanic by profession, was approached by Abhijeet for an emergency car repair, and he was joined by Rajni. Things got out of control as Gouri and Abhijeet projected their homophobic behavior, which led to Abhijeet accidentally throwing Satya in front of a speeding truck, causing his death. The reason behind Gouri being kidnapped was also revealed. The death was unexpected and an accident, and it only happened when the matter escalated.
Who Killed Abhijeet?
Rajni killed Abhijeet and kidnapped Gouri to murder her as well because of their role in killing the one person who mattered to her the most. Rajni and Satya were inseparable, and she had been sheltered by him all this while, but his death exposed the ugly reality of the world to her. Abhijeet paid a bribe to get himself out of the murder case, while Rajni was molested by the same police for her destitute condition. Rajni’s dire situation after her brother’s death showcases how transwomen are treated by society. The law was supposed to protect them from being exploited, but they ended up being perpetrators of rampant molestation. Rajni had nothing to lose after having transitioned into a woman. There was no explanation as to how Rajni acquired the money to put herself through counseling and surgery. One theory could be that Rajni blackmailed Abhijeet into paying her off. She transitioned into a woman using that money and used her new persona to hoodwink Abhijeet and kill him. She wanted revenge for him killing her brother and being put through the trauma of being a transwoman.
Naveen locates Rajni at the screening of a new Rajnikanth film in the town, and a fight ensues as the former follows the latter in the hope of locating Gouri. After a long fight between the two, Gouri is set free, and the Chennai police reach the spot to arrest Rajni. The movie ended with Rajni in prison for the murder of Abhijeet. There was no mention of Gouri and Abhijeet’s role in Satya’s death. They were accomplices in hiding a crime and bribing the police, but it was never taken into consideration. This again proves the laws are different for Rajni and for Naveen, who come from two different financial backgrounds. Naveen tries to find a truce with Rajni by offering the statement that no one is right or wrong in this situation except for the circumstances. Rajni receives a poster of Rajnikanth for her prison room, which gives her some measure of happiness, even though it could be temporary. Offering her a poster does not solve the real issue of homophobia that killed Rajni’s brother. The post-credits scene includes Rajni killing the police officer who raped her on the night of her brother’s death. It was not revealed if the murder was carried out after her release or if she committed the crime way before she went after Abhijeet. With the death of the corrupt police officer, Rajni’s revenge spree comes to an end.
