Raaghu Kannada movie review: Vijay Raghavendra steps up in this middling thriller

2.5/5

Story:

Raaghu, a medicine delivery agent with complete access to the streets during the second coronavirus lockdown, is given a series of sinister tasks by an anonymous caller. Should he fail to complete those tasks within the allotted time, the caller gets to harm the love of his life Jenny and also reveal a deadly secret that could put him behind bars. Racing against time and his own destiny, Raaghu is forced to tackle his own demons as he plunges down a rabbit hole of danger. 

Review:

In M. Anand Raj's crime thriller Raaghu, the film's inventiveness is countered and later overpowered by its own lazy plotting and other narrative shortcomings. 

Vijay Raghavendra plays the titular character who, charmingly, remains the only character in the entire film as he navigates the city of Bengaluru during the dead of night. The second lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic has just been unleashed but Raaghu, being a medical delivery executive, has full access to the lonely streets of the city. It is through this haunting quietness that he must execute a set of menacing tasks posed by an anonymous caller, who turns out to be a ghost from the past. This caller hasn't only kidnapped Raaghu's girlfriend but also dug up a secret that could potentially damage his entire life. 

An Inventive Setup

Let's first discuss the positives in the film and much to my surprise, there are quite a few. The most striking feature of Raaghu is its use of a solitary character on whom the entire burden of the plot lies. The director is smart in using devices to execute this and he, along with cinematographer Uday Leela, deftly manages to keep the rest of the characters off the frame. These characters are only heard and Anand Raj ensures that there's a sense of uniqueness to each voice that surfaces along the narrative. If you have watched Steven Knight's Locke starring the wonderful Tom Hardy, you will know what I am referring to. 

Raaghu, as pointed out already, is made to embark on a dangerous journey that unravels in stages, with each stage proving to be more bizarre and challenging than the previous one. And the writing allows us to learn something new about Raaghu at every checkpoint, ensuring that the mystery is kept alive (to some extent) until the very end. 

Clumsy, underdeveloped screenplay

But where M. Anand Raj, who has also written the film, falters is in developing the novel idea to its fullest potential. The film opens on an interesting note and entices with an intriguing setup, only to eventually reveal itself to be lacklustre and quite disjointed. There is a smattering of small ideas - the unreliableness of the protagonist, his mysterious penchant for crime, and the faceless villain, among others - but none of them is given the body or enough weightage to make the film rise above the cliches. 

The challenges laid out by the villain, too, seem exacting only on paper because the execution on the screen is not skilful enough, leaving you, the viewer, feeling a little undone by the silliness of it all. And the big reveal, the one concerning the identity of the anonymous caller, arrives a bit too early in the film and isn't all that impactful either. 

Vijay Raghavendra steps up

Vijay Raghavendra, who seems quite in the mood to be part of mystery thrillers, is tasked with being the sole face of the film and the actor delivers. He immerses himself in the character and appears to be in sync with the pitch and tone of the film, even managing to lift it up during the many dull points. 

Verdict:

Raaghu, the film, sank at the box office without a trace but one would hope that its OTT release fetches better results. The film, although painfully inept because of the inattentiveness on the writer-director's part, still has enough to hold your attention and keep you (mildly) interested till the very end. The runtime of only 93 minutes helps in this regard and Vijay Raghavendra's committed performance is an added feature. Do give this film a try if you enjoy crime thrillers.

Raaghu is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.