Red Sandal Wood Review…more like a documentary than a film
Year: 2023
Genre: Business, Social Justice, Action
Cast: Vetri, Ramachandra Raju, Ganesh Venkatraman, Vishwanth, M. S. Bhaskar, G. Marimuthu, Vinod Sagar, Diya Mayuri
Director: Guru Ramanujam
Writer: Murugesh Babu
Cinematographer: Suresh Bala
Summary: Prabha travels to Andhra Pradesh in search of his missing friend who allegedly got involved in red sandalwood smuggling
Overall Rating: Water 
Red Sandal Wood was not a bad movie, it’s just that it was told like a documentary; hence, we felt more like being educated than transported into a cinematic experience.
~Still Worth Watching~
Delicious
—The film opened up with a brief history of the red sandalwood smuggling business which helped us understand the craze behind this renowned tree.
We got to learn about vulnerable Tamilians used as scapegoats to cut the trees and face death if caught
—It was also eye-opening to see the different unassuming parties involved in the smuggling business, giving us a comprehensive scope
Bland
—As stated earlier, Red Sandal Wood was not bad, it’s just the way it was presented: casual acting, casual dialogues, casual scene sequence, and no character development.
Vetri (playing Prabha) kept the same look from start to finish, nothing memorable about his performance which was not surprising
—The scenario went by really fast without giving us time to digest or understand the characters, e.g. Prabha’s mom and friends were only briefly shown. Consequently, we couldn’t identify with who Prabha was
Events moved rather quickly as soon as Prabha landed in Andhra Pradesh, it’s as if the director was rushing to wrap the movie
As a result, we just got a lesson on the red sandalwood business and the importance of filing a Civilians Information Report (CIR) when going to work in another state…😔
Viewers’ Guide
Language
Trailer
Available on
(Audio: Tamil; English Subtitles: Yes)
