BOTTOM LINE
Bland Crime Saga With a Few Silver Linings
PLATFORM
Amazon Prime Video
RUNTIME
5 Hours (8 Episodes)
What Is the Show About?
Siblings Suman and Sahil vanish on the night of the former’s singing debut on the radio. Sub-Inspector JP Jatav leads the hunt, uncovering a chilling pattern of murders linked to a mysterious sword. As political pressure mounts and the killers flee across states, the officer defies orders to track them. Racing against time, the manhunt attempts to bring justice to the grieving parents.
Performances
If you have to pick one performance that stays with you right after the show, it is certainly Ali Fazal’s restrained, evocative portrayal of SI Jayaprakash. He remains guarded with his emotions while gradually revealing various facets of the character. Rakesh Bedi also delivers a warm, kind performance that you can only expect from a veteran who has seen the best and worst of life.
The child actors, Divya Sharma and Vivaan Sharma, come with an exuberant, lively screen presence. Both the on-screen parents, Aamir Bashir and Sonali Bendre, get typical sob-roles, denying them distinct identities. Anshul Chauhan looks the part of a journalist, but Nisar Rizvi as a character lacks adequate depth. Akash Makhija and Ramandeep Yadav get their moments to shine, though the stereotypical writing does not really push their limits as performers.
Analysis
Raakh, Amazon Prime Video’s latest Hindi crime show, jointly directed by Prosit Roy, Anusha Nandakumar, and Sandeep Saket, tells a story you have seen way too many times before. Cold-blooded criminals are on the loose, with their actions tracing back to a dark childhood. With the victim tally on the rise, cops feel the pinch, going all out to find them. A cat-and-mouse chase ensues across cities. The victims’ families struggle to overcome the grief, day in and day out.
Unsurprisingly, the investigating officer is in a relationship with a journalist, and both partners try to do their part to unearth key details about the crimes. Set in an India of the 70s, looking past the chaotic post-Emergency era, where the country plunges into chaos, the series is loosely inspired by real incidents in the lives of the criminal duo Billa-Ranga.
One presumes Raakh began as a show that would reimagine a straightforward investigation drama set in a period, involving two fatal killers. While it peppers the narrative with cultural, domestic references true to the timeline, it does not offer any new insight into the social issue it tackles or break free from a done-to-death template.
The ghastly crime with which the show begins, where two siblings, Suman and Sahil, are brutally killed, is merely used as an entry tool to probe into the psyche of the investigating cop Jayaprakash, a.k.a. JP, and the murderers. There is hardly any trace of grey in JP. He is simply an emerging officer who gives it all to his job, only for the system to dent his enthusiasm time and again.
The show’s most endearing portions tap into the unusual dynamic between JP and his cook-father (played superbly by Rakesh Bedi), the son’s embarrassment about his father’s profession and them gradually coming to terms with each other. JP’s love story with the journalist Nisar is as functional as it gets. The highs and lows in their relationship play out too mechanically, sans any texture or vigour.
In the case of the killers, the episodes simply progress from one victim to the other, while offering glimpses of their deranged mindset that drives them towards the crime. Impressively though, it does not over-explain them. Yet, the show still falls prey to typical clichés involving their dysfunctional childhoods, impulsive behaviour, and toxic interpersonal relationships.
At no point does the show create necessary anxiety or anticipation around the investigation. There are systemic issues that prevent JP from doing his job. He is caught in his own chaos, gathers details bit by bit, and does the needful at last. It feels like a boring formality. The blink-and-miss courtroom sequence in the end about the death sentence is a tad too convenient and simplistic.
Raakh generally employs a non-linear narrative to piece various threads of the characters and their pasts together. The character detailing feels too basic and predictable; the graph is one painfully boring straight line. Perhaps the writers should have given the criminals more time to prolong their heartfelt conversation near the Taj Mahal, where they have none to rely upon but one another.
The climax that presents an alternative take on the destinies of Suman and Sahil helps the show end on a poignant note. Nisar’s hope for a safer Delhi and a better tomorrow only suggests how far we have regressed as a society. The main villain in the story is clearly the uninspiring material, which desperately needed to be viewed through a fresher lens.
However, you can barely point a finger at the craft – the director, the technical team, and the actors do their best to salvage the show with their sincere efforts. Raakh is a strictly average crime show with a solid cast and crew, which lacks the chutzpah and the zeal to propel it to better heights.
Music and Other Departments?
The show remains quite strong on the technical front, more so with the music and the cinematography. The background score does its best to dive deep into the internal chaos of its key characters subtly, being only slightly suggestive. Cinematographer Saumyananda Sahi’s muted colour palette painting a grim portrait of 70s Delhi leaves a lasting impact. The predictable, obvious editing choices truly affect the spirit of the narrative at times. The writing also remains strictly generic.
Highlights?
Ali Fazal, Rakesh Bedi’s performances
Technical contributions
Recreation of 70s Delhi
Drawbacks?
Standard, generic writing
Characters lack depth/nuance
Absence of any tension/urgency in the narrative
Did I Enjoy It?
Not really, it was a mixed bag for me.
Will You Recommend It?
Only if you’re a hard-core crime-drama enthusiast.
Raakh Amazon Prime Web Series Reviewed by Kalyan, M9 News
