Raman Raghav 2.0

Raman Raghav 2.0
First look
Directed by	Anurag Kashyap
Produced by	Anurag Kashyap Vikas Bahl Vikramaditya Motwane Madhu Mantena
Written by	Anurag Kashyap Vasan Bala
Starring	Nawazuddin Siddiqui Sobhita Dhulipala Vicky Kaushal
Music by	Ram Sampath
Cinematography	Jay Oza
Edited by	Aarti Bajaj
Production companies	Phantom Films
Distributed by	Reliance Entertainment
Release date	16 May 2016 (2016-05-16) (Cannes) 24 June 2016 (2016-06-24) (India)
Running time	127 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹35 million[2]
Box office	₹68 million[3]

Raman Raghav 2.0 is a 2016 Indian neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Anurag Kashyap. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the role of Ramanna, a psychopathic serial killer inspired by a serial killer who operated in Mumbai during the mid-1960s named Raman Raghav. Vicky Kaushal plays Raghavan, a cop assigned to investigate the serial killings.^[4] The film premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight to a positive critical reception, raising hopes of a good showing at the box office.^[5][6] It was released on 24 June 2016.^[7]

Plot

Raman Raghav was a well known serial killer, having terrorized the city with his brutal crimes in the 60s. In 2015, a similar psychopath, named Ramanna, begins to operate in Mumbai. The tabloids label him as 'Stoneman' since the first few murders he commits is with a stone. On one particular night, a cocaine addict comes looking for his supply, and comes across a crime scene. A few days later, Ramanna is apprehended by police and held for interrogation. The man who questions him is revealed to be the same cocaine addict, Officer Raghavan.

The police detain Ramanna for some time, harassing, torturing and starving him, until he is finally able to escape with the help of a gang of young boys. Ramanna continues his killing spree and hunts for a new victim. He finds his next prey in his sister Lakshmi, a poor woman living with her husband and son. He enters her home under the pretext of needing a meal, but soon ends up in an argument with her husband. Enraged, he storms off, only to return later on and kill the whole family. The police arrive at the scene, and Raghavan finds an old picture of Ramanna and his sister, effectively confirming him as being involved in the crime.

Meanwhile, Raghavan is a deeply troubled person, suffering from anger issues and drug addiction. He is in a relationship with a woman named Smrutika (Simy), but he refuses to commit or be faithful to her. Their relationship is dark and abusive and Raghavan has pressured Simy into having more than one abortion. Raghavan becomes obsessed with the murders and catching Ramanna, to the point where he finds himself becoming consumed by cocaine. Ramanna has been looking for his soul mate, his other half, and realizes that he has found him in Raghavan. The pair engage in a cat-and-mouse game in which Ramanna seems to have the upper hand as Raghavan spirals out of control.

Ramanna starts stalking Simy and ends up murdering her maid. Simy is overwhelmed by Raghavan's drug use, mood swings and callous attitude. After a cocaine fueled night, Raghavan brings another girl named Ankita to Simy's house. He is forced to take Viagra due to the effects of his earlier drug use, but is still unable to perform. Ankita mocks him, causing Raghavan to strike her. In a fit of rage, he begins searching for the stash of drugs he usually keeps in Simy's house, but he is unable to find it. He confronts Simy and the pair engage in a heated argument, which results in Simy's accidental death. Ankita tries to call for help but Raghavan threatens her and locks her inside a room. He then clears away all drug paraphernalia and sets the scene so as to incriminate Ramanna for the murder of Simy.

Ramanna surrenders to Raghavan, and tells him that they are each others missing half, the two sides of the same coin. Raghavan realizes this, and decides to go after the only witness to Simy's murder, Ankita.

Cast

• Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Ramanna
• Vicky Kaushal as ACP Raghavan Singh
• Sobhita Dhulipala as Smrutika Naidu
• Vipin Sharma as Raghav's father
• Amruta Subhash as Lakshmi, Ramanna's sister
• Ashok Lokhande as Lakshmi's husband
• Harssh A. Singh as sub-inspector
• Anuschka Sawhney as Ankita
• Hitesh Dave as Constable Kamble
• Rajesh Jais as Farid Haq, Addl CP
• Kalidas Parthitan as Michael
• Rhea Pagar as Violet
• Arun Singh as Swamiji

Production

Origin

The film is inspired by the notorious serial killer Raman Raghav, who operated in Mumbai during the late 1960s, but it essentially is not a film about him. He used a regular steel rod to reduce human faces to severed heads and broken skulls.^[8] He was later captured by the Mumbai police and later confessed the crimes he had committed. Raghav confessed to have committed 41 murders.^[8] He was sentenced to death by the Bombay High Court, but it was later changed to life imprisonment after his defence pleaded that he was "mentally incapable of making conscious decisions hence did not know that his acts were unlawful".^[8]

Casting, further development and filming

After the release of Masaan (2015), Kashyap told its lead actor Vicky Kaushal to play the role of a cop for his film. He gave Kaushal two scenes and five days to prepare for the audition.^[9] He also asked Kaushal to interpret the role in the way he wanted to. To prepare, Kaushal locked himself in a room for five days without phone, television or newspaper.^[9] He gave the audition and was selected.^[9] Nawazuddin Siddiqui was cast in the title role of the serial killer. Miss Earth India 2013, Sobhita Dhulipala made her acting debut with this film.^[10]

Kashyap had wanted to make a film on the serial killer Raman Raghav, but the budget constraints did not allow him to make a period film set in the 1960s.^[11] He said that Raman Raghav 2.0 is not a biopic: "This is actually inspired from him because that character is in the 1960s and this film is based in today’s times. It’s difficult because you’re starting to say something, you’re treading a very dangerous line and you have your own sense of responsibility ... If it would’ve been a biopic it would have been 10 times more difficult."^[12]

Filming began in September 2015, and shooting was completed on 22 November 2015.^[4][13] Raman Raghav 2.0 was shot in 20 days because of a shoestring budget.^[14] Kashyap wrote smaller scenes: "Normal Hindi films have 70 scenes, my films have 220 scenes".^[11] It helped in making the film look bigger as the locations kept changing. The title was decided before the script was ready.^[11]

The crew employed guerrilla filmmaking technique to shoot in real locations of Mumbai.^[15] While shooting, as a result of the unhygienic surroundings, Siddiqui fell seriously ill and was hospitalised for five days. His wife later said that Siddiqui was repeating his dialogues from the film, while being semi-conscious.^[15] The diagnosis showed dengue initially.^[13] However, it was proven wrong when he recovered quickly.^[15] He resumed shooting for the film as soon as he was discharged.^[13] Siddiqui called the shoot a "mentally draining" experience.^[16]

Marketing

On 24 April 2016, Anurag Kashyap released two teaser poster's of the film through his official Twitter account.^[17] The first look poster was revealed on April 25, 2016, which showed Siddiqui staring in front with his red eyes.^[18] A second poster was released on May 1 which featured the half faces of both Kaushal and Siddiqui.^[19] The first teaser of Raman Raghav 2.0 was released on 6 May 2016, with a runtime of 46 seconds.^[20] It was followed by three other teasers which showed a glimpse of the serial killer.^[21] The theatrical trailer of Raman Raghav 2.0 was released on 10 May 2016.^[22]

Premiere

Raman Raghav 2.0 premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, in the Directors' Fortnight section to positive response.^[23][24] Nawazuddin Siddiqui received a standing ovation post the screening of the film.^[25]

Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The story could have turned into one huge cliché, and there are genre elements that are numbingly familiar, was it not for the exceptionally scary performance of Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the role of the villainous, demented serial killer Ramanna." Further noting the lack of character-depth of female characters, "Variety and depth of character are badly lacking on the female front, weakening the whole film."^[26] Guy Lodge from Variety labelled Siddiqui's performance "[has] literally unblinking intensity". He further added, "Anurag Kashyap riffs on a grisly episode of Mumbai history in his luridly absorbing serial killer thriller."^[27] Wendy Ide from Screen International reviewed: "It’s a propulsive and bloodthirsty thriller with a brash use of music and a jangling, adrenalised energy which rarely flags." Further noting, "What the film lacks is the sense of a Manhunter-style battle of wits."^[1]

The film also premiered at the 2016 Sydney Film Festival,^[28] the Singapore International Film Festival,^[29] and the Fantasia International Film Festival, where Patrick Cooper of Bloody Disgusting wrote: "If you only think of Bollywood when you think of Indian film, Psycho Raman will knock some sense into you, as it stands up with the grittiest American serial killer thrillers."^[30]

See also

• The Stoneman Murders

References

External links

• Raman Raghav 2.0 on IMDb
• Raman Raghav 2.0 at Rotten Tomatoes