Rudravanam PS Review: Stale Malayalam-Coded Thriller Bites the Dust

Rudravanam PS Review

BOTTOM LINE
Stale Malayalam-Coded Thriller Bites the Dust

PLATFORM
ZEE 5

RUNTIME
2 Hrs 42 Mins| 7 Episodes

What Is the Show About?

An influential man in Rudravanam loses large quantities of gold on the eve of his daughter’s wedding. Meanwhile, Chandra, the brother of a local MLA, goes missing. The cops discover a headless body in the forest. A young officer, Shiva Kumar, is tasked with solving the cases at the earliest.

Performances

Naresh Agastya is decent as a restrained and relatively sensible cop. Charu Wakan fits the bill as an underdog with a dark secret, but is undone by a rather static, inexpressive portrayal. Banerjee does the usual, sleepwalking through a senior cop act, though the character has no personality beyond handing random instructions to the protagonist. Among others, Shravani Reddy and Konambhatla Ramesh pass muster.

Analysis

Multiple OTT platforms, including ZEE5 and Hotstar, have realised the potential of digital remakes in recent months. Like their counterparts in cinema and television, these remakes are born out of risk aversion, with platforms backing a product that has already worked in one market and trusting it to cast its spell on a new audience.

Rudravanam PS is the Telugu remake of the platform’s successful Tamil show Vilangu (2022), which has been remade in several languages. By the time it reaches Telugu audiences, a certain fatigue has set in with police procedural thrillers. Audiences have been fed the same product time and again.

The surprise factor is minimal. The show adheres to a storytelling style prevalent in Malayalam cinema. The initial episodes, which follow cop Shiva Kumar and his personal life at a remote police station, are leisurely. Two crimes – a gold burglary and a missing person case – are seemingly connected.

A major part of the show revolves around Shiva Kumar’s pursuit of the truth, with clues everywhere but the team repeatedly getting things wrong, until we finally reach the culprit. Considerable time is spent showcasing systemic issues – the hierarchy among cops, corruption, and the power influential people wield over the police force.

As a story, it has a healing touch, with an orphaned cop taking a humanised approach to winning a criminal’s trust. The cop’s victory is not the only happy ending here. The fact that the officer chooses to empathise with the wrongdoer and takes accountability for his future is equally heartening.

Except for one female constable at the police station, most women in the show are school-going girls, pregnant women, a patient in a wheelchair, and a traumatised girl who prostitutes herself for easy money. It shows how insensitive our writing sensibilities continue to be, perpetuating time-tested stereotypes.

The men are on the hunt, commit crimes, engage in dialogue, beat each other up, stand up for one another, and everything else is pushed into the background. Even on that front, for a show that wants you to be more human, custodial torture is repeatedly normalised, with an object even named Gabbar Singh to elicit responses.
The show has the runtime of a typical feature film, but the character build-ups and the atmosphere at the police station never feel unique or intriguing. The plot feels dated, the performances are strictly superficial, the cinematography fares slightly better, and there is no genuine emotional connection.

Despite a couple of impressive episodes towards the end, Rudravanam PS, for the most part, is a crime thriller that has hardly anything new to offer. Even as a remake, it fails to deliver.

Music and Other Departments?

The music by Pavan, who is tasked with amplifying a staple product, offers nothing much to write home about. The only technician who appears committed to rising above the mediocrity around him is cinematographer Ashkar, who captures the length and breadth of a sleepy village to good effect. The show would have worked better as a standalone web film than as a web series forcefully split into seven episodes.

Highlights?

The lead character, an empathetic cop

Good climax

Drawbacks?

Bland screenplay

Writing lacks thrills or emotional connect

Did I Enjoy It?

Only in parts, but not as a whole.

Will You Recommend It?

No. Go watch the original Vilangu instead, available on the same platform.

Rudravanam PS ZEE 5 Telugu Web Series Reviewed by M9 News