'Rakshasudu' Movie review: A well made thriller which is too long.

Cast: Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas, Anupama Parmeshwaran, Rajeev Kanakala

Directed By: Ramesh Varma

Rakshasudu is the remake of the Tamil Ratsasan. It is allegedly based on the story of a Russian serial killer, who was known for brutally torturing and murdering young girls. A sharp serial killer who lures young girls after winning their trust, having met them earlier (a common connection between all the deaths – but watch the movie to see it for yourself) and disposes of the bodies a couple of days later. A gift, a mutilated doll, is always discovered near the kidnapped girl’s home.

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Arun (Bellamkonda Srinivas), who is an aspiring filmmaker who has a keen interest in serial killers and watches their documentaries and related movies. He has a Sherlock-ish penchant for spotting clues and accidentally joins the police force when his struggle to find a producer for his thriller film fails. He gets a case which is about a serial killer and he gets excited but his skills are not appreciated by his superior but still, he still tries to find the killer and audience too joins him. And that's a plus point of this film.

The plot has all the cinematic devices which are used in thriller movies such as Red Herrings, modus operandi and an exciting twist in the end. The antagonist of the film is the most horrifying character and the background score gives you chills. he has an interesting backstory too.

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The film becomes tedious and breaks the speed of the narration by adding unnecessary romantic angle and song which divert you from the film.

The movie runs entirely around the serial killer (name withheld to not give away the spoiler) and the cop Arun. Bellamkonda Srinivas puts up the best performance of his fledgling career. Yet, there is a lot of scope for improvement – he is sluggish in dialogue delivery and barely emotes. Perhaps he is better suited for all-out action. Anupama Parameswaran as his love interest barely features in the movie, with a wafer-thin role.

The antagonist of the film is the surprise package and will horrify you and Ghibran's theme song for the villain will chill your spine.

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Rakshasudu could have been a brilliant movie. It is still decent, but it could have been so much more if the director and the story-writer Ram Kumar refined the story, made it taut, and deepened the mystery rather than widened the drama.

Rakshasudu is a story about people who are humiliated, pushed to their extreme, and how they react to it. While Arun channelizes his frustration into something constructive, the humiliation has the opposite effect on the villain