Never Ending Movie Carnival
Never Ending Movie Carnival
Rautu Ka Raaz review: Mountains and the Mystery
What: ‘Rautu Ka Raaz’ - Nawazuddin Siddiqui adds heft to this meditative mystery thriller.
As I see myself escalating in the ranks of streaming addicts, I have realized my growing propensity into the crime and investigation drama genre. There are further two categories in this where the pacing is concerned – one is the fast paced, relentless type and the other is idyllic and languid. ‘Rautu Ka Raaz’ belongs to the latter.
Rautu ka Raaz movie synopsis
A murder, the mystery and the mountains – Anand Surapur helms ‘Rautu Ka Raaz’ by conjuring these three elements with a balanced and austere view of the world nestled in the hilly landscapes. The warden (Narayani Shastri) of a blind children’s school is found dead and SHO Deepak Negi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is assigned the case where the forensic reads, unnatural death and not just a mere suicide. With his comprising sub-inspector Dimri (Rajesh Kumar) and the rag-tag bunch - Tripathi, Lata, Panji, the initially disinterested and slow-footed Negi is drawn deeper into it as he discovers and peels of layers of mystery surrounding the trustee, Manoj Keshari (Atul Tiwari), his tight-lipped family and a young student couple who go by the moniker, Shahrukh and Kajol, expelled from the school.
Surapur (‘Fakir of Venice’), who has also co-produced the film, crafts an intriguing and sleepy atmosphere which accentuates the suspense of the picturesque Rautu ki Beli village amidst the quaint hills of Uttarakhand and Mussoorie. Viewers may have qualms with its lethargic pace, but I found it in good rhythm with the plot. Other elements appear to be a bit cliched in his world – Negi is engulfed in his inner demons and a guilt consumes him gradually. We are not told anything about this. Only some incoherent montages offer a reason for his lack of a ‘sukoon ki neend’.
Nawazuddin renders a carefully calibrated and instinctive performance and the beats of his Negi resonate with his characters from ‘Kahaani’, ‘Teen’ and ‘Raees’. He is pitched in familiar terrain but adds heft to the mystery, through his awkward mannerisms, that unfolds with a meditative narrative.
But the film hits a note of trouble for its message on crime vs morality, the chief reveal and a climax that offers a conflicting perspective of right and wrong. As long as we see it through the prism of art, we are good!
In the maze, there are performances that are earnest and rise above the written material – Rajesh Kumar as Dimri and Atul Tiwari’s Keshari stand out and gloss over the brief spell of Narayani Shastri and the two insignificant old men chit-chatting and basking in the sun.
Rautu Ka Raaz – final words
I go with 3.5 stars out of 5 for ‘Rautu Ka Raaz’. The film, produced by Phat Phish films and Zee Studio is streaming on Zee5 OTT platform from 28th June 2024.
Ahwaan Padhee, is an IT Techie/Business Consultant by profession and a film critic/cinephile by passion, is also associated with Radio Playback as well, loves writing and conducting movie quizzes. More By Ahwaan Padhee