‘Rakkasapuradhol’ movie review: This Raj B Shetty-starrer gets the job done after a shaky start

The runtime of the Raj B Shetty-starrer Rakkasapuradhol mirrors the film’s highs and lows. At two hours and seven minutes, you expect a taut thriller. Director Ravi Saranga’s film is far from that. There are portions that unfold more slowly than they should. Yet, the film accelerates before it’s too late for a good finish, ensuring the film isn’t needlessly long.

The first half tries its best to keep our curiosity intact, but it’s not easy to guess the story’s deceptive turns. A small town is jolted when women start disappearing. Dead bodies are found to make things worse. The villagers fear it’s the doing of Kolli Devva (Torch Ghost). There is also a perverted teacher (Gopalakrishna Deshpande) and a temple priest (B Suresha), who is revered as a deity by the locals.

In the middle of these dramatic episodes is Inspector Shiva (Raj) who is introduced as a wacky, alcoholic cop. Again, it’s easy to guess that his lax discipline will never come in the way of the crucial case in front of him. Till the plot kicks in, he is the archetypal cool cop hiding his brilliance behind the facade of an arrogant and drunken officer.

Rakkasapuradhol gets its act together when the director dives into the crucial details of the case. It gets engaging and never loses focus when the inspector begins to unearth shocking details about the murderer. The thriller gets an extra layer when it deals with the mental disorder of the protagonist. Shiva is schizophrenic, and how this psychological aspect becomes integral to the plot pushes Rakkasapuradhol to a flourishing finish.

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The film would have benefited from a deft handling of the episodes that build towards the big reveal. The loud background score is a drawback. There is something alluring about atmospheric thrillers set in rural regions. Cinematographer William David transforms the pleasing backdrop into something unsettling to indicate the impending danger.

Rakkasapuradhol is a thriller that punches above its weight. More importantly, it gets the job done after a shaky start.

Rakkasapuradhol is currently running in theatres