Tamil comedy-drama film “Dragon” (2025), currently streaming on Netflix, is an odd one. At its core, the film has a story that tries to undercut the hardcore appeal of a mainstream hero (Read “Mass Hero”). Yet, director Ashwath Marimuthu could not help but resort to the same deifying cliches at every turn of events. The result is a film that runs a story of subversion through the mill of rigid conformity. The film’s titular protagonist should have been a fine anti-hero with all his frailties. Alas, in “Dragon,” those flaws come across as quirks of a mass hero.
Speaking of quirkiness, the film starts well where our lead protagonist D. Ragavan becomes Dragon (Pradeep Ranganathan). All in a bid to impress girls, because the film immediately takes the sweeping stance that girls only dig bad boys. One of the top students in high school, Dragon intentionally starts to fall behind in studies when enrolled in an engineering college. Winners do not study, eat food, or get a haircut. That seems to be the mantra of Dragon. His 48 arrears ensure that the generally smooth path to getting a degree is a quest for Dragon. And the biggest obstacle in that path is the college principal (a cheekily good Mysskin).
Ignoring everyone’s requests, including that of his girlfriend Keerthi (Anupama Parameswaran), Dragon rejects the college degree. Of course, a few years later we see him lying to his parents about having a job. In reality, he spends his weekday mornings gazing at the television at his working friends’ shared apartment. Keerthi, like any self-respecting woman, breaks up with him to marry a man chosen by her parents. I mean there are thousands of reasons not to have an arranged marriage, but a guy like Dragon trumps them all.
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Of course, Dragon is Arjun Reddy/Kabir Singh sans the muscles. So, he takes the break-up hard. First, by grabbing Keerthi by the neck, and later succumbing to alcohol. After the inevitable motorcycle accident, Dragon decides to get a job at a higher salary than Keerthi’s potential groom. A novel motive as any. However, a college degree is mandatory to get a job with that salary. So, Dragon forges his certificates and gets into the job via a fake interview. To his credit, Dragon uses this start to build a great career. He soon owns a house, buys a great car, and gets engaged to another great woman, Pallavi (Kayadu Lohar). Just when everything looks so rosy, Dragon gets the biggest setback of his life. The reintroduction of his old college principal, who knows Dragon does not have a proper college degree.
One of the most memorable quotes from “Harry Potter” involves the wise headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, asking his pupils to have the wisdom to choose between what is right and what is easy. Dragon’s script, written by Marimuthu and lead actor Pradeep Ranganathan, seems to be a visual reenactment of what Dumbledore meant. Through the central character’s journey, the story is fixated on this message of ‘right over easy.’ The film hammers the point home quite often, especially in the second half. Sometimes poignantly, sometimes crudely. Dragon’s principal is like Albus Dumbledore in a way. Except his relationship with Dragon would be akin to the one between Dumbledore and Draco Malfoy.
The melodrama-laced story is filled with Dragon often choosing the easy over the right. The film’s fable-like approach could have worked better if Dragon was allowed to become an anti-hero. Despite Dragon raising his hands on his girlfriend, he is never portrayed in a shade different than a hero with some immature quirkiness. As with a lot of Indian mainstream films, it is questionable, to say the least, why downright violence like that is brushed under the carpet as something to be easily forgiven. As a result, Dragon’s redemption arc does not reach its true height as he is always a small confession away from being redeemed.
Now, it would be unfair of me not to highlight certain aspects of “Dragon,” where the film did wonders. Firstly, if you stop ruing at the fact that the film felt like a missed opportunity, it is not entirely terrible as a mainstream commercial potboiler. The two and a half hours do pass in a jiffy. In addition, the actors’ performance is far from terrible. Pradeep Ranganathan gets into the skin of Dragon extraordinarily well. Anupama Parameswaran’s earnest turn as Keerthi and Mysskin’s playful principal demand a special mention as well. With all its positives and promises, “Dragon” remains frustratingly middling.
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