Last 20 minutes of Dragon moved me to tears, confesses ace director Shankar

‘Dragon’, which released to positive reviews, was a sure shot success even before it released as the film had already recovered the amount that was invested in it just from non-theatrical business.

Chennai: Ace director Shankar has praised director Ashwath Marimuthu’s recently released superhit film ‘Dragon’, featuring Pradeep Ranganathan in the lead, saying the last 20 minutes of the film moved him to tears.

Taking to X to pen a heartfelt appreciation post for the film, its director and its entire unit, Shankar wrote, “#DRAGON A beautiful movie. Excellent writing- hats off to @Dir_Ashwath. All characters have a beautiful and complete journey. @pradeeponelife showed us again that he’s a terrific entertainer and proved that he is a strong, soulful performer as well. @DirectorMysskin, @anupamahere and George Maryan gave performances that stay in your heart.”

---

#DRAGON A beautiful movie. Excellent writing- hats off to @Dir_Ashwath . All characters have a beautiful and complete journey. @pradeeponelife showed us again that he’s a terrific entertainer and proved that he is a strong, soulful performer as well. @DirectorMysskin ,…

— Shankar Shanmugham (@shankarshanmugh) February 23, 2025

Stating that all the ‘Gen-Z/millennial’ characters did very well in the film, the director confessed, “The last twenty minutes moved me to tears. In a world with increasing number of cheats it’s a much needed message! Congrats to @Ags_production and the whole team!”

Both director Ashwath Marimuth and the film’s hero Pradeep Ranganathan responded to the post.

Pradeep Ranganathan, in his reply to Shankar said, “Sir, Never dreamt of getting these comments For a boy who grew up watching your films , being a fan who admired you , looked upto you … and you (my most fav director) talking about me is nothing but an unbelievable dream . I can’t express my feelings through words . Thankyou so much sir. I love you.”

His director Ashwath Marimuthu wrote, “This is my dragon moment sir ! Thank you, I have tears as I type this ! You have inspired every single soul to dream big! My heart is full as I recollect how many times I would have watched your films, analysed the beats in it ! My God! I dreamt of this moment sir and it happened like a miracle. One day I would love to meet you sir and I believe it will happen!”

‘Dragon’, which released to positive reviews, was a sure shot success even before it released as the film had already recovered the amount that was invested in it just from non-theatrical business.

In fact, director Ashwath Marimuthu, in an exclusive interview to IANS, had earlier said, “We made this film on a budget of Rs 37 crores. Already, we have got back that amount from the satellite, OTT rights and other rights that have already been sold. We have got all bases covered.”

Producer Archana Kalpathi of AGS Entertainment too, in another interview to an online media entity, had confirmed this information. She said, “Dragon is a table profit for us. That is because OTT is sold, satellite is done – all business is done. Whatever theatrically we do, it will be a profitable venture for us. What is the scale of profit, we don’t know. Will it be two times, three times or will it be like 30 per cent or 40 per cent, we don’t know. But whatever we make, we are quite happy with it. “

Produced by Kalpathi S Aghoram, Kalpathi S Ganesh and Kalpathi S Suresh, the film has music by Leon James and cinematography by Niketh Bommi.

Editing for the film is by Pradeep E Ragav and stunts are by Vicky and Dilip Subbarayan. The story for the film is jointly by Ashwath Marimuthu and Pradeep Ranganathan while the dialogues and screenplay are by Ashwath Marimuthu.

The film has been co-directed by Ramesh Narayanan and costumes are by Dinesh Manoharan and Praveen Raja.