Prajwal Devaraj: Rakshasa has a connect with director Lohith’s Mummy Save Me

Prajwal Devaraj’s first horror film, Rakshasa, directed by Lohith H, who made a name in the genre with movies like Mummy Save Me and Devaki, should have been a February 28 theatrical release, but was postponed in the last-minute owing to ‘technical difficulties’, although non-clearance of certain financial dues has been cited by industry sources.

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The film has Prajwal in cop mode again, but this time, he is up against a demonic force, a Brahmarakshasa that was captured and confined to an element, which ends up in the evidence locker of a police station. When the Brahmarakshasa is inadvertently set free, it wreaks havoc, on the cop, who is then in a race against time to save his family. What is special about the narrative is that Lohith has attempted to tell the story with a time-loop element.

Rakshasa connects to Mummy Save Me

Prajwal says that he took up the film, although the genre was new to him, because he was very confident in Lohith’s ability to handle such a subject. The duo had been working on another collaboration, Mafia, which is yet to release, when Lohith told Prajwal about the subject of Rakshasa. The novelty of the subject apart, it also aligned well with Prajwal’s idea of doing new-age and experimental cinema, instead of the routine mass commercial movies that have been his staple for a while.

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The actor says that one reason he never attempted horror as a genre earlier was that he didn’t see the value in paying money to get scared. What changed with Rakshasa is that it is not just a horror flick with jump scares; it’s also a thriller. Lohith, says Prajwal, is a director who has seen success with not one but two films in the genre, so Rakshasa was in his comfort zone.

“Lohith has connected Rakshasa to his earlier films, which you will realize when you see the film. There is a doll in Mummy Save Me, that is pivotal to Rakshasa as well, while the police character is connected to another film. Lohith is creating his cinematic universe – LCU,” said Prajwal, in conversation with Kannada Pichhar.