Dragon is a 2025 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Ashwath Marimuthu. Produced by AGS Entertainment, the film stars Pradeep Ranganathan in the titular role, alongside Anupama Parameswaran and Kayadu Lohar, George Maryan, K. S. Ravikumar, Gautham Vasudev Menon and Mysskin. In the film, a young man lands in trouble after a crooked attempt to become successful, threatening to destroy his relationship, employment and family.

The film was officially announced in April 2024 under the tentative titles #AGS26 and #PradeepAshwathCombo, as it is AGS' 26th production and the first collaboration between Pradeep and Ashwath, and the official title was announced a few days later. Principal photography commenced the following month in Chennai and was nearly complete that October. The film has music composed by Leon James, cinematography handled by Niketh Bommi and editing by Pradeep E. Ragav.

Dragon was released worldwide on 21 February 2025 in standard and EPIQ formats. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the lead cast's performance and narrative. It is currently the third highest-grossing Tamil film of 2025.

In 2014, D. Ragavan, a diligent and exceptional student in his 12th standard, received a gold medal in Computer Science. Emboldened by his achievement, he mustered the courage to confess his feelings to his crush, Anjana. However, she rejected him, citing her preference for rugged individuals over well-mannered ones like Ragavan. Crushed by her rejection, Ragavan transforms himself into a rebellious and undisciplined student, adopting the moniker "Dragon." With the help of his friend Anbu, he cultivates a notorious reputation at AGS Engineering College in Vellore, accumulating 48 arrears. Despite his academic struggles, Dragon earns the respect of his peers.

Dean Mayilvahanan offers Dragon a chance to redeem himself by attending his final semester classes, but Dragon declines. After completing his college education, Dragon deceives his parents, pretending to work for an IT company and providing them with a meager allowance, courtesy of his friends. His girlfriend, Keerthi, ends their six-year relationship, citing Dragon's inability to clear his arrears or secure employment. Heartbroken and inebriated, Dragon gets involved in an accident, prompting him to reassess his life after the doctor's advice. Determined to succeed, Dragon set his sights on achieving a monthly salary of Rs. 1,20,001, surpassing the Rs. 1,20,000 earned by Keerthi's prospective groom, Deepak.

While playing cricket, Anbu befriends Goutham, who is living a luxurious life with his wife Sherin. Goutham reveals to Dragon that he too struggled with backlog arrears in college and had obtained a fake degree certificate to secure a job. Inspired by Goutham's suggestion, Dragon visits the agency to procure a fake degree for himself. However, the managing director, Rajesh demands a hefty sum of Rs. 10,00,000. Dragon emotionally manipulates his father, Dhanapal, into selling their only land in the village to raise funds. With the money, Dragon obtains the fake degree certificate and even resorts to malpractice during a video interview, landing a job at an MNC, Lateral View, with an annual salary package of Rs. 16,00,000.

Within three years, Dragon's dedication earns him promotions and is soon slated for transfer to the USA. He purchases a lavish villa and a luxurious car, cementing his status as a high-flyer. Thenappan, who had provided financial assistance to Dhanapal, takes a liking to Dragon and arranges for him to marry Pallavi, the USA-returned daughter of wealthy businessman Parasuram. Soon Dragon and Pallavi fall in love. Mayilvahanan is shocked to discover that Dragon had forged a fake degree certificate to secure his job and orders him to return to college and clear his 48 backlog arrears in a single attempt within three months. Fearing the loss of his job and the cancellation of his marriage, Dragon reluctantly accepts Mayilvahanan's conditions. He deceives Vale Kumar, citing marriage commitments, and secures a three-month work-from-home option. Meanwhile, he lies to his family, telling them that his company was providing a three-month training in Mumbai before his transfer to the USA.

With his secrets intact, Dragon returns to college, where he struggles initially to adjust to college life, and Kutty Dragon, a junior student inspired by Dragon's notorious reputation, is causing chaos in the college. Dragon contemplates leaving college to confess the truth to his boss and family. However, the news of Goutham's arrest for faking his degree certificate changes Dragon's mind and decides to focus on clearing his backlog arrears. Dragon reconnects with Keerthi, now a lecturer, who confronts him about their past. Dragon acknowledges his mistakes, and Keerthi, though married, expresses her guilt over ending their relationship. They become friends, and Keerthi helps Dragon prepare for his exams. However, before his final exam, Pallavi, believing he is in Mumbai, surprisedly travels to Mumbai. To maintain his deception, Dragon lies that he had come to Chennai to meet her and hastily drives to Chennai from Vellore to meet her at the airport before rushing back to the exam hall.

Exhausted from lack of sleep, and driving through the night, Dragon is drained and fatigued. Unable to focus during the exam, he resorts to using Rajesh's consultancy services to replace his answer sheet with someone else's, ensuring he would pass the exam. Dragon returns to his job, and during a verification process at his office, Dragon receives the news that he has cleared his backlog arrears and obtained his degree certificate, eliminating any doubts about his job eligibility. On the eve of his marriage, Dragon and Kutty Dragon rush to visit their classmate, Venkat, who had attempted suicide after failing one paper. Venkat, from a lower-middle-class family, had always dreamed of working at Google, but his failed attempt had crushed him. Dragon discovers that Venkat's answer script has been exchanged with his own, resulting in Dragon's undeserved pass and Venkat's failure.

Overwhelmed with regret, Dragon halts his marriage ceremony and confesses to his boss and relatives that he has faked his degree and manipulated his exam results. He voluntarily surrenders to the police and gets sentenced to six months in prison. After serving his term, Dragon is released and his parents, Dhanapal and Chithra, accept him, acknowledging his reformed nature. Dragon begins a new chapter, working as a food delivery agent for a modest salary of Rs. 25,000 per month. He also restarted his studies at a different university. Mayilvahanan, who had once labeled Dragon a failure, is now impressed by his genuine transformation and offers his daughter, Harini, to marry Dragon, whom she had already seen on a matrimonial website. Initially hesitant, Dragon is smitten with Harini upon meeting her.

After the success of Oh My Kadavule in 2020, Silambarasan congratulated director Ashwath Marimuthu for the film's success, leading speculations that they would collaborate for the director's next directorial venture.^[6] Reports of a potential collaboration persisted through January 2022,^[7][8] with AGS Entertainment reported as the project's funder.^[9] Touted to be a romantic comedy, production was reportedly set to begin later that year.^[10] However, for unspecified reasons, the project was eventually delayed.^[11] Silambarasan moved on to Thug Life (2025), STR 49 directed by Ramkumar Balakrishnan and STR 50 directed by Desingh Periyasamy, while Ashwath took on the Telugu remake of Oh My Kadavule.^[12]

In December 2023, Pradeep Ranganathan, a long-time friend of Ashwath Marimuthu, was reported to collaborate with him for Pradeep's third acting film after Love Today (2022) and Love Insurance Kompany (2025).^[13] AGS Entertainment was confirmed to be the project's funder, and made a public announcement on 10 April 2024, confirming the project, tentatively titled #PradeepAshwathCombo and #AGS26.^[14] The team retained collaborators from their previous films, including composer Leon James, editor Pradeep E. Ragav, and publicity designer Kabilan Chelliah; S. M. Venkat Manickam was appointed as the executive producer by the production house, while cinematographer Niketh Bommireddy was chosen to handle the cinematography.^[15] Ashwath clarified the script he narrated to Silambarasan was not the same, after reports claimed it to be.^[16] The film's official title, Dragon, was announced on 5 May.^[17]

Pradeep would be playing a student as a main character for the first time.^[18][19] Anupama Parameswaran would be pairing opposite Pradeep,^[20] in her fourth Tamil film after Kodi (2016), Thalli Pogathey (2021) and Siren (2024).^[21][22] K. S. Ravikumar, Gautham Vasudev Menon and Mysskin were confirmed to be playing important roles, in their first collaboration with Pradeep and Ashwath.^[23][24] YouTubers VJ Siddhu and Harshath Khan would make their film acting sophomore after Nenjamundu Nermaiyundu Odu Raja (2019),^[25] while Kayadu Lohar would make her Tamil film debut with this film.^[26] Shortly thereafter, George Maryan and television actress Indumathy Manikandan were announced to play the title character's parents.^[27]

Principal photography began with first schedule on 5 May 2024 with an inaugural puja at a film city in Chennai on the day before.^[28] On 4 October, the director confirmed that filming had entered into its last schedule.^{[29][needs update]}

The soundtrack is composed by Leon James, in his first collaboration with Pradeep and third with Ashwath after Oh My Kadavule and Ori Devuda (2022).^[30] The audio rights were acquired by Think Music. The first single "Rise of Dragon" was released on 2 January 2025,^[31] the second single "Vazhithunaiye" on 13 January,^[32] and the third single "Yendi Vittu Pona", sung by Silambarasan, on 28 January.^[33]

Dragon was initially scheduled to be released theatrically on 14 February 2025, but was postponed to avoid a box-office clash with Vidaamuyarchi.^[34] It was released on 21 February 2025 in standard and EPIQ formats,^[35] clashing with Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam.^[36] Apart from the original Tamil language, it was also released in a dubbed Telugu version under the title Return of the Dragon, due to the original title Dragon being already registered for another Telugu film.^[37]

The film was certified U/A (16+) by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).^[38] In the United Kingdom, the film was released on the same day, however, in a version that was certified 12A by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) for moderate violence, brief suicide references, domestic abuse and injury detail, following a cut of 1 minute and 50 seconds.^[39]

Mythri Movie Makers acquired the distribution rights of the film for Nizam and Ceded Area,^[40] while Poorvi Pictures bought the rights for Coastal Andhra.^[41] The distribution rights for North India were acquired by AA Films,^[42] and Karnataka by Oveum International.^[43] Phars Films acquired the overseas distribution rights for the Middle East, United Kingdom, Europe, United States, Canada and Dubai,^[44] while United India Exporters bought the overseas distribution rights for Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Sri Lanka.^[45]

The digital streaming of the film were acquired by Netflix.^[46][47]

Dragon received positive reviews from critics, who praised the engaging narrative and the lead cast's performance.^[48]

Harshini SV of The Times of India gave 4/5 stars and wrote "'Ashwath Marimuthu’s second outing is also a fun, emotional, and fully charged ride."^[49] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of News18 gave 4/5 stars and wrote " The genius of Ashwath’s writing is its thought-out screenplay structure. It raises despite its predictability. You see the conflict coming from a mile away. It is apparent Dragon will get caught; you know the next plot point is right around the corner, and you can feel the redemption arc in the air. Dragon delivers exactly all that, but in ways you didn’t know were possible."^[50] Avinash Ramachandran of The Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "With a terrific Pradeep Ranganathan in the lead, director Ashwath Marimuthu and his team have delivered a heavily preachy yet immensely entertaining film that knows its audience."^[51]

Anusha Sundar of OTTPlay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Dragon warrants for a theatre watch. There is enough and more for the audience of today’s age to get entertained and schooled at the same time. [...] Dragon becomes a film on how redemption works."^[52] Janani K of India Today gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Dragon is a satisfying watch with minor shortcomings. Despite convenient writing, the screenplay keeps the story going with some interesting twists and turns."^[53] Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Ragavan’s story is a modern take, an antidote, to the countless Tamil college dramas with heroes proclaiming the swag with which young men should carry themselves."^[54]

Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "Dragon is a film that is fun and entertaining with an underlying social message that is important at this point in time. Money is important but is money everything in life? Director Ashwath Marimuthu and Pradeep Ranganathan have aced this outing."^[55]

Dragon grossed ₹6 crore (US$690,000) worldwide on its opening day,^[56] with over ₹4.5 crore (US$520,000)–₹5.75 crore (US$660,000) from Tamil Nadu.^[57][58]

• Dragon at IMDb