Raman Raghav 2.0

Interpreting the soul mates concept in a different way and using a really odd topic of criminal mind to establish that thought is what made me like the movie Raman Raghav 2.0. There is a sequence towards the end of the movie where Raman finally meets his Raghav and explains why he believes Raghav is his soul mate. The discretely engaging narrative manages to make sense towards the end and if you are someone like me who found the perspective of Raman interesting, the movie Raman Raghav 2.0 would be a catchy idea that will stay in your head.

This isn’t a biopic of the actual Raman Raghav, the serial killer. The film revolves around two individuals. Ramana aka Raman is this psycho serial killer. He has his own reasons for doing all that killings. His open confession of those crimes sort of teases a cop named Raghav who was a drug addict. The similarity in the acts of Raman and Raghav and how they actually are different sides of the same coin is what the movie trying to depict in a cat and mouse style.

Serial killers are known to be people who don’t really need a significant reason to kill someone. May be because of that, Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala has tried to add an interesting intellectual shades to the character of Raman. He isn’t perfect for sure as we can clearly see in the sister chapter of the movie, where the final act of the sister clearly shows how he was in the past. Like Raman, Raghav is also in search of respect. The characteristics are also similar except for the fact that they both are placed in the extremities of the system. The only glitch in my opinion in this movie is the way they have mixed it in the screenplay. A little more intrigue in mixing it up would have made it more of a thriller. The less intriguing treatment sort of puts the movie in a “Badlapur” kind of zone. Like I said in the beginning, the “soul mates” idea and the way Raman presented that was really elegant.

Well Nawazuddin Siddiqui once again delivers a stellar performance as the psycho killer Raman. The emotional changes of this character are pretty delicate and the actor has done a tremendous job in being true to the character. Vicky Kaushal in his third outing has got a character with multiple emotional outbursts and the promising young talent has done a good job. Sobhita Dhulipala looks like a promising talent. Amruta Subhash surprised me with her portrayal of the sister character.

Anurag Kashyap is making a comeback to his own signature style movie making through Raman Raghav 2.0 after the box office disaster Bombay Velvet (which I personally don’t consider as a bad movie). The dark frames, visuals that capture the natural reaction of actors (the sister chapter) etc. gives the movie that feel we expect from the director. Mr. Kashyap adapts the Tarantino style of narrating the story through Chapters and as I mentioned, the screenplay slightly loses the grip in maintaining the thrill. Edits are impressive. The dialogues were also well pitched as it described the characters in the minimal way possible. Music was also catchy.

On the whole I would say the theme of Raman Raghav 2.0 is captivating if you are interested in dwelling in to the perspectives of characters in this movie. It may not be Anurag Kashyap’s best work, but still there is enough in the movie to call it an impressive one.

Rating : 3.5/5