There is no shortcut to success, but the Pradeep Ranganathan-starrer coming-of-age comedy drama fails to go beyond its social messaging.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️ ( 2 / 5)
By Mayur Lookhar
What does the average young Indian man want? A good education, a good job, a well-paid salary, to find the right girl, marry, and live happily ever after. To be honest, this isn’t exclusive to Indian society but a global way of life. Love can be a motivating factor to achieve dreams, but heartbreak can shatter it.
In 2014, having achieved a gold medal in computer science and eyeing a bright future, D. Ragavan (Pradeep Ranganathan), a high school student, feels the time is right to propose to his childhood crush, Anjana. He believes he has all the attributes of a suitable boy, but to his horror, the girl humbly rejects his proposal and, instead, reveals that she likes bad boys, pointing to the most ill-disciplined boy in the college. It breaks Ragavan’s heart to the point that he feels he must turn bad from then on. Soon, D Ragavan takes the moniker of Dragon in college. The boy who scored 96% in class 12, loses interest in education and four years later becomes the most ill-disciplined guy in his engineering college in Vellore.
He gets a gorgeous girlfriend, Keerthi (Anupama Parameswaran), who mostly pays for their dates. So, being bad pays off here, but bizarrely, the man has no career ambitions as he intends to remain bad for life. Once a class topper, Ragavan rather Dragon now has 48 arrears (failed exams) to clear. Yours truly wasn’t an engineering student, but doesn’t such a student risk rustication for repeated failures and gross indiscipline?
Not yet in the eyes of the college principal/dean Mayilvahanan (Mysskin), who offers him a last chance to salvage his career. However, Ragavan must maintain absolute discipline in class and put in all efforts to clear his exams. The self-destructive Ragavan shoots himself in the foot and cockily opts out of college.
A few years later, we see Ragavan leave his home dressed in a tie and shirt, but he is not going to any workplace; instead, he stays with his fellow friends. Ragavan has been lying to his parents about having a job and takes money (a fake salary of ₹18,000) from his best friends. He gives most of this money to his parents but takes it back shortly afterward, citing various expenditure. This is how he returns his friends’ money. An alcoholic, smoker, lusty lover, our protagonist has no shame in living such a life; in fact, he seems proud of it.
One heartbreak changed him during high school, and with Keerthi now dumping him too, the sexist Ragavan lashes out at her, even threatening to raise his hand with fellow diners watching in horror. Here is a self-destructive, toxic figure, à la Arjun Reddy / Kabir Singh. Hey, but at least they went on to become successful in their careers. Surely, this Ragavan is not worthy of being our protagonist.
The exhaustive screenplay operates in cringe mode in the first hour, blame it on Ragavan’s excessive bad behavior. Eventually, he does repent and redeem himself. How he does that? Well, you’ll need to watch the film for that. But after the second heartbreak, Ragavan finds a shortcut (fraud) to success that helps him land a lucrative job in Mumbai and even get engaged to a gorgeous girl, Pallavi (Kayadu Lohar). At the interval mark, the principal resurfaces in Dragon’s life, threatening to blow the lid off his scam, which will ruin both his professional and personal life. The only way Ragavan can prevent it is by agreeing to the same set of conditions as six years ago. Hence, the dubbed Hindi title reads Return of the Dragon.
Dragon has its genuinely engaging moments, but they are few and far between, as the film simply drags on for much of its exhaustive 157 minutes. This story is born out of a one-liner from Ranganathan—well, all stories germinate from a logline. Marimuthu, though, doesn’t create an engaging screenplay. He primarily falters by getting carried away with the bad boy image of Dragon. Yes, the man does eventually redeem himself, but the early hooliganism, sexism, and pathetic attitude of Dragon is too much to bear. Truth be told, at best, Marimuthu had a narrative that could have easily been wrapped up in 90 minutes, but the film endlessly drags on. Resorting to fraud to land a top job and a beautiful fiancé partly triggers nostalgia for Dil (1990), Rasukutty (1992)—remade in Hindi as Raja Babu (1994). At the heart of this Dragon story are important social messages – there is no shortcut to success, importance of education, karma, and a shot at redemption. But the film barely appeals beyond its social messaging.
It’s our introduction to Pradeep Ranganathan, but his name cropped up earlier this February when Loveyapa (2025) released and flopped badly. The Bollywood film is the official Hindi remake of Ranganathan’s hit Tamil flick Love Today (2022). Honestly, marketing Return of the Dragon by mentioning Love Today, especially after what happened with Loveyapa, isn’t great PR for Ranganathan.
At a time when most heroes lean towards brawn, it’s nice to see a short, frail hero who at least looks like a collegian. Whether clean-shaven or with stubble, Ranganathan reminds us of young Dinesh Karthik, the now-retired Indian international cricketer. His appeal lies in his smile. From Love Today to Dragon, the man perhaps has a liking for these immature college-boy characters. As a performer, he tends to lean towards melodrama.
It’s heartbreaking to see how the sexist Dragon blames Keerthi for ending the relationship. What’s even more disconcerting is that when they reunite, it’s Keerthi who apologizes for her actions. Why should she be sorry for dumping a douchebag? As always, Anupama Parameswaran is just so natural.
Assam-born, Pune resident Kayadu Lohar has a fine screen presence, and like many non-South Indians before her, she relies on dub artistes, with Savitha Radhakrishnan providing the voice for her in the original. It’s our introduction to Lohar, and we’re not sure whether she lent her voice for the Hindi dubbed version. The young lady, though, has a strong screen presence and, more importantly, a meaningful role.
Though their parents have arranged this marriage, you’ll like the confidence of the girl on the first date, where she smartly tests the man’s integrity and character. Gents, always be gentle, loyal, honest, and protective if you want to win over a girl. Lohar shows adequate promise and would naturally want to make the grade in Bollywood in the years to come. She makes a fine initial impression.
Seasoned actor Mysskin is the most consistent performer here. How many Dragons would wish they had a principal like Mayilvahanan? Also impressive is Gautham Vasudev Menon, who plays Ragavan’s boss, Vale Kumar.
Ragavan’s character is seriously questionable, and one has to feel for his parents, who still keep supporting their son as he is their only child. George Maryan and Indumathy Manikandan, who play Ragavan’s parents, are a treat to watch.
The screenplay is stretched, but the BGM is sound, unlike the typical noisy score we’re accustomed to in South Indian films. A couple of dubbed Hindi songs are also a pleasant listen. However, the Hindi audience won’t be drawn in by the music. Cinephiles in these markets will be curious about the success of the Tamil original film. The dubbing quality is good, but Return of the Dragon doesn’t match the hype. Now that it’s had a dubbed theatrical release in the Hindi belt, and is most likely to arrive on an OTT platform soon, we can only hope that no Bollywood producer is carried away by the box office success of Dragon and rushes into a poor remake.
