Raman Raghav 2.0 [2016]

Language - Hindi
Director - Anurag Kashyap
Run Time - 2 hours, 7 minutes
Genre - Drama/Thriller
Starring - Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vicky Kaushal

Raman Raghav is a groundbreaking film, for it explores the mind of a serial killer, which has hardly been covered by Bollywood, and yet never so brilliantly. Yes, the film is intense and gory and violent and people with soft hearts should probably avoid it, but that is where the Kashyap strikes the right chord, as such a gruesome portrayal of a serial killer has never been seen on the silver screen (Bollywood only).

Both our protagonists are interesting characters and the chemistry between them works out really well. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays Ramanna, a serial killer who is trying to emulate the famed 60's killer Raman Raghav. On the other hand, we have Vicky Kaushal playing ACP Raghavan who is drug addict apart from being manipulative human being. Both are on the hunt for each other, as we get to enjoy a wonderful game of cat and mouse.

Nawazuddin is a proven actor now, as he has demonstrated he can play a wide variety of roles quite convincingly. I think he might be the best actor in Bollywood right now. His scary performance is what keeps the audience enthralled throughout the movie. Vicky Kaushal is just his third film is also quite good. The chemistry between the characters, as Raman tries to find his Raghav is top notch, with each complimenting the other.

The cinematography was brilliant, with certain shots having been so perfectly executed. I'd also like to specially mention the opening credits scene, which was so amazing laid out.

The biggest negative has to be the music. The background score was loud, as well as appalling, sometimes hurting the entire scene. And also, the font used everywhere in the film was so pathetic, it seemed like it was picked up from one the old 'Microsoft Word' fonts and tinkered around here and there.

The concept of having the story split into various acts was also refreshing, and thus, the plot deviation didn't seem all that haphazard. The adrenaline kept pumping all throughout the movie. What could have been such a cliched ending was avoided, and therein lies the credit to Mr. Kashyap.

Lastly, I would again like to give some praise to the man who made this movie, and is the best director in Bollywood - Anurag Kashyap, a man of genius intellect. All his films have been so revolutionary. Be it a Black Friday or a No Smoking, Dev D, Gangs of Wasseypur, or Ugly, he has delivered time and again, and changed our way of thinking about the human nature. We hardly recognize the demons that live among us.

If you don't mind a somewhat intense and gory film, this is not to be missed out on.

My Rating - 8/10