Since his reemergence as a top hero, Vijayakanth's films casting him as a supercop have definitely displayed a decrease in quality. While Vallarasu contained some clever plot devices, both Vanchinathan and Narasimma relied more on style and flashiness rather than logic or substance. But Raajjiyam lacks both style and substance and consequently, even the most rabid Vijayakanth fan would be hardpressed to find something of merit in his thalaivar's latest outing.

Karthikeyan(Vijayakanth) runs a Central Government authorized secret service agency under the guise of an organization that helps people arriving in Chennai. He leads a happy life with his wife(Shamita Shetty), daughter and younger brother Surya(Dilip), a mute. Surya falls in love with Anuradha(Priyanka Trivedi), a woman that Karthikeyan brings home from the railway station but her past forces her to reject his romance. When the Governor's(Murali) daughter-in-law dies, Karthikeyan finds out that it was a murder and arrests the Governor's son(Anand). Though the Governor outwardly congratulates Karthikeyan and even appoints him as his personal bodyguard, he is in fact plotting his revenge on him.

It is debatable if any other film in recent memory, starring a hero of Vijayakanth's stature, has been mounted in such an amateurish fashion. The scenes where Vijayakanth's employees help find employment for new arrivals to Madras, the prominent display of his fan club flag and the abrupt song with him leading a huge procession are all picturised in a distressingly poor fashion. But atleast such scenes can be condoned since they are obviously only aimed at eliciting cheers and whistles from his fans. But even regular scenes, like Shamita's meeting with Vijayakanth's 'admirers' in the train, reek of silliness.

Any hope that the director would deal with the crime aspects of the movie in a better fashion are dashed once Vijayakanth appears at the governor's house. His sniffing out of the clues(he 'discovers' the syringe used in the murder thrown carelessly so that it is resting on an indoor plant!) looks like it belongs to one of the TV serials where a bunch of kids figure out the mystery. And the fight scenes go beyond the realms of reality, even when judged by the stunts in Vijayakanth's recent cop movies. As he defies all laws of physics to fly through the air(the 'spinning jump', where he spins so fast he whizzes through the air like a top, is a classic!), the sequences turn into cartoons generating no interest whatsoever.

The way the governor, alongwith Mansur Ali Khan, extracts his revenge on Vijayakanth is what saves the movie from being a complete waste of time. The plan itself is quite diabolical, in the way it involves Vijayakanth, and shows some good planning. Showing uncharacteristic restraint, the director too picturises these scenes in a manner that heightens suspense by revealing the actual plan slowly. But the climactic scenes - replete with the 'talking villain' who unnecessarily spills the beans about his actions, unnecessary deaths and a long fight - once again remind us that it is the same movie we are watching.

Vijayakanth, looking quite beefed-up, does his part with some risks in the stunt sequences and colorful dresses in the song sequences. Dilip, a Malayalam actor, is probably the only one who comes off positively from the movie. He does well, both in making us laugh initially and earning our sympathy in the later portions. Shamita Shetty has little to do while Priyanka Trivedi, as the woman with a secret, is adequate. Vadivelu tickles us a little with some of his routines. Bharadwaj's tunes make this his least impressive effort among the three movies where he is the music director, released for Tamil New Year's day.