Review: ‘Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas’ rests on two solid performances

In the Uttar Pradesh town of Robertsganj in 2009, a woman has gone missing. Police officer Bhagwat (Arshad Warsi) promises the woman’s father that he will find her in 15 days. In a parallel universe, Samir (Jitendra Kumar) has fallen for Meera (Ayesha Kaduskar). Samir’s gift of the gab breaks down Meera’s resistance.

It is soon apparent to Bhagwat that a serial trickster is at work. Is the man killing women too, and if so, where are the bodies?

Bhagwat burns the midnight oil – and breaks a few bones of those in custody – before he decides that Samir is the perpetrator. But the evidence is purely circumstantial. Bhagwat is unable to link Samir to the crimes, let alone prove that he is a serial killer.

Akshay Shere’s Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas, written by Bhavini Bheda and out on ZEE5, starts off well. Shere smoothly rolls out the cliches of this type of film and capitalises on the casting of two fine actors.

The 127-minute Hindi thriller eventually loses momentum, with only a few performances to savour. It’s surely a coincidence that Bhagwat shares with a popular web series the actual killer’s exact same modus operandi.

The film is down to its two main actors and the battle of wills between their...

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