RAMAN RAGHAV 2.0 MOVIE REVIEW

Expectations rose high when news of Anurag Kashyap joining hands with Nawazuddin Siddiqui after a long time got out. More significantly, a film based on a Mumbai based psycho killer meant that he was returning back to his forte of crime and psychological thriller. Let’s see how the movie has worked out.
 

Raman Raghav 2.0 has Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Koushal in the lead along with Vipin Sharma, Amruta Subhash, Shobita Dhulipala and Ashok Lokhande in important roles. Written by Anurag and Vasan Bala, cinematography has been handled by Jay Oza, music by Ram Sampath and editing by Aarti Bajaj.
 

The film starts with an introduction of the yesteryear psycho killer and triggers awe by stating that the movie, in fact, is not about him. It is about a different Raman Raghav, somebody like him - a version 2.0. In fact it is about Raman and Raghav. More aptly, Raman finding Raghav. Why there must be a Raman and a Raghav, why must one go after the other and what happens in course of the cat and mouse chase comprises the plot of this slow lighting pot boiler.
 

The movie opens like a book, with a prologue, and then continues in the same format with the movie being divided into chapters. Perhaps the experience of watching the movie is like that of reading a book since it demands the exact amount of focus and patience. The plot gradually increases pressure of it’s grip over the viewer. The entire film seems to be an experiment with a carefully planned mix of chemicals such as violence, peculiarity, delusion, suspense and terror.
 

The director’s mastery touch is felt throughout the film. Setting foot into the theatre, expecting a periodical with step by step narration of the real Raman Raghav’s menace, and stepping out having watched an entirely different film is a result of that mastery touch. It is also a peek into lesser known lives such an average slum dweller, a volatile drug addict, and a girl who takes a chance at love in nightclubs, with unique detailing.While the movie sets up the sequence for violence, the actual act of terror is made to manifest in one’s imagination through cunning cinematography and sound design. The pace of the movie could be said as slow, but it was tightly packed with events continuously taking turns.
 

Who do you go to when you have a character, who lives confidently in a deluded world, and you need to somebody to give heart and soul to character transformation, not minding the nuances involved such as having to roam around in slums? The right man was approached and the right amount of genius is seen in the performance, which effortlessly takes the viewers into the mind of a killer and psychopath.Nawazuddin Siddiqui, shoulders the film. Masaan fame Vicky Koushal has done a great job in portraying Raghav, and has done justice to the equal amount of screen space and importance his character held. Special mentions to Marathi actress Amruta Subash and Sobhita Dhulipala are due for neatly portraying the intelligent characters carved out for them. Music does well to add to the sinister happenings and so does the cinematography.
 

Overall, Raman Raghav 2.0 is thrilling book in the form of a movie that requires attention from the audience which will get rewarded with mastery performance and a well thought out plot and story content.