Ka Pae Ranasingam (Eng: Husband name Ranasingam) is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language political drama film directed by P. Virumaandi in his directorial debut. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi and Aishwarya Rajesh in lead roles. The film was scheduled to release theatrically but instead released on Zee5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a true story, the film was released in Tamil on 2 October 2020. It has been dubbed into Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi as well. All the dubbed versions were released on 9 October 2020. A theatrical release is planned for 16 October 2020 following the reopening of theatres across India.
Ka Pae Ranasingam starts off with Ariyanachi getting ready for her daughter’s ear piercing function. It is shown that her husband Ranasingam lives in Dubai to support their family. As the function is happening, Maayi, Ranasingam’s younger sister, learns that her brother died during a protest in Dubai through the police. As everyone is in shock and heartbroken, they try to bring Ranasingam’s body back to India.
In a flashback, Ranasingam is revealed to be a water dowser. Ariyanachi’s father hired Ranasingam for divining water on their land. Ariyanachi does not believe him and thinks he is a hoaxster who is tricking her family, whilst also trying to court her. One day when Ranasingam was passing by, Ariyanachi blocked him as asked him to show where the water is as she believes that he is just making a magic show. He then identifies the water in the sky, saying that it will rain in her side but will not rain on his side. In disbelief, Ariyanachi stood and waited but it happened, which started their love.
The film is taken back to the present where their family is still trying to recover Ranasingam’s body. Ariyanachi gets a call from Ranasingam’s friends, saying that he did not die during a protest but during an accident, while he was working in the oil factory. In shock, Ariyanachi decided to go to the police, where they do not believe her and ask her for evidence. Trying her best, she files a case in court, where they decided to tarnish Ranasingam’s name and did not come with a decision.
Taken back to the past, it is shown that Ariyanachi and Ranasingam get engaged, but on the day of their wedding, the police decide to enforce a curfew to stop the wedding. They still managed to get married overnight but failed to get any evidence because it was sudden. Ariyanachi tells Ranasingam that she wants to build a house for the whole family to stay. Ranasingam is involved with people’s problems and helps them solve them, but this is disliked by the police.
As Ariyanachi struggles to bring her husband’s body, back she decides to do everything she can. While everyone is at the airport to drop Ranasingam as he is going to Dubai for work, it is shown that Ariyanachi is pregnant. During their calls, he shows Ariyanachi that he got a tattoo of her name on his hand so when he shakes people’s hands, the first thing they notice is her.
Ariyanachi decides to talk to the MLA, CM, and others, but nothing worked. 10 months passed, and then she decided to take matters to her own hands when she stood on top of the dam attempting to commit suicide. This catches the attention of the Prime Minister of India.
Attempts are made to bring Ranasingam’s body. Ariyanachi’s family picks up the body from the airport, and the funeral arrangements are made. As they go to cremate the body, Ariyanachi finds out that the body is not Ranasingam’s as it does not have the tattoo of her name, but she stays quiet. As Ariyanachi is talking to Ranasingam’s photo, she asks for forgiveness as she could not bring his body back home. At the end, Ranasingam’s body is shown lying on top of the ocean as he did pass away due to an accident.
Directed by P. Virumaandi
Produced by Kotapadi J. Rajesh
Written by P. Virumaandi & Shanmugam Muthusamy (dialogues)
Starring Vijay Sethupathi, Aishwarya Rajesh
Music by Ghibran
Cinematography N. K. Ekambaram
Edited by T. Sivanadeeswaran
Production KJR Studios
Distributed by Zee Studios, Zee Plex & ZEE5
Release date 2 October 2020
Running time 176 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
