Rudra The Edge Of Darkness (2022) :
Series Review -
The British TV series "Luther" was quite a mix of plenty of sourceful materials. The series has been adapted four times (American, Russian, Korean, and French) before Rudra, and a few of them managed to convert some things while keeping the essence intact. With Rudra, it wasn't possible because those things which are quite normal in foreign countries can't be termed logical in India. For a long time, there has been a big difference between our culture and foreign cultures, despite the fact that we have been in the process of westernisation for a long time. The only possible chance for Rudra was to Indianise things and rely heavily on the performances. Well, somehow it misses the former part while gaining the latter one.
Set in Mumbai, Rudra is about a smart, dedicated investigation officer, Rudra (Ajay Devgn), who is consumed by the darkness of the crimes and his relationship issues with his wife, Shaila (Esha Gupta). In the first murder investigation of the series, he meets a brilliant and intelligent psychopath killer, Aliyah (Raashii Khanna). He knows that she is the killer but is unable to arrest her due to a lack of evidence. Meanwhile, she develops an interest in him and later becomes his assistant in crime. The first episode is entirely focused on Rudra and Aliyah, while the next episodes have different murder cases and different conflicts. Rudra starts off on an average note, and you don't even feel that satisfaction after watching the first episode. But then it picks up in the second and third episodes, where intriguing murder mysteries keep it engaging. Then it has another good case in the 4th episode that somehow carries the momentum forward, only to lose it in the next two episodes. The conclusion part is really messy and even looks out of context. Nevertheless, they don't bore you to death. The middle portion definitely adds on to the passing marks, and that's all you can expect from it.
As previously stated, Rudra is heavily reliant on the great acting unit's performances. Ajay Devgn scores high on merit in his digital debut. Those intense eyes, his dialogue delivery, not a scene where you see him going out of character. He is so focused on this messy world of Rudra, and all of it is unbelievable yet acceptable. The best after him is, of course, Raashii Khanna. This girl is here to stay. She has nailed this psycho character, and she looks hot too. Don't tell me you get to see these two things together often. Esha Deol is good enough with whatever scenes she has got, but I think the writer could have offered more variations on her character. This paragraph is incomplete unless I mention those two supporting actors who have made this acting unit shine brighter than it deserves. Ashwini Kalsekar and Atul Kulkarni. What a troupe of talent they are. Believe it or not, in the last two episodes, Atul Kulkarni is even better than the lead actors.
Not minding many of those locations, Rudra could have easily found better things to display. From the episode, you know that it's somehow stuck in the same places, except for those murder premises that take place somewhere else. The cinematography of Rudra was a difficult job to do as it had to bring darkness into the series as well as on the screen. You can't make it too dark because a small screen experience might make it more dull, so it had to find one intermediate point. The same applies for editing too, and I must say, both results are pretty nice. The background score is just superb. It reminded me of Hans Zimmer's score from "The Dark Knight". Now you can imagine how superb it is.
The crime thriller genre is new to director Rajesh Mapuskar. He has done vibrant and light-hearted films like "Ventilator" and "Ferrari Ki Sawaari" and even his filmography as an assistant director belongs to the "Hirani Genre". Rudra is far away from those films; it's very dark and intense, so for a new student, I must say, it's a fine attempt. However, there are unforgivable flaws in the second half of the series that he could have avoided, and he deserves to be blamed for that. Rest assured, it's a watchable crime thriller for crime thriller fans and a must-watch for Ajay Devgn and Raashii Khanna's fans because these two have literally lit up this dark-toned half-dead series. Produced by Applause Entertainment and BBC Studios, Rudra is now streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar.
RATING - 6/10*
The British TV series "Luther" was quite a mix of plenty of sourceful materials. The series has been adapted four times (American, Russian, Korean, and French) before Rudra, and a few of them managed to convert some things while keeping the essence intact. With Rudra, it wasn't possible because those things which are quite normal in foreign countries can't be termed logical in India. For a long time, there has been a big difference between our culture and foreign cultures, despite the fact that we have been in the process of westernisation for a long time. The only possible chance for Rudra was to Indianise things and rely heavily on the performances. Well, somehow it misses the former part while gaining the latter one.
Set in Mumbai, Rudra is about a smart, dedicated investigation officer, Rudra (Ajay Devgn), who is consumed by the darkness of the crimes and his relationship issues with his wife, Shaila (Esha Gupta). In the first murder investigation of the series, he meets a brilliant and intelligent psychopath killer, Aliyah (Raashii Khanna). He knows that she is the killer but is unable to arrest her due to a lack of evidence. Meanwhile, she develops an interest in him and later becomes his assistant in crime. The first episode is entirely focused on Rudra and Aliyah, while the next episodes have different murder cases and different conflicts. Rudra starts off on an average note, and you don't even feel that satisfaction after watching the first episode. But then it picks up in the second and third episodes, where intriguing murder mysteries keep it engaging. Then it has another good case in the 4th episode that somehow carries the momentum forward, only to lose it in the next two episodes. The conclusion part is really messy and even looks out of context. Nevertheless, they don't bore you to death. The middle portion definitely adds on to the passing marks, and that's all you can expect from it.
As previously stated, Rudra is heavily reliant on the great acting unit's performances. Ajay Devgn scores high on merit in his digital debut. Those intense eyes, his dialogue delivery, not a scene where you see him going out of character. He is so focused on this messy world of Rudra, and all of it is unbelievable yet acceptable. The best after him is, of course, Raashii Khanna. This girl is here to stay. She has nailed this psycho character, and she looks hot too. Don't tell me you get to see these two things together often. Esha Deol is good enough with whatever scenes she has got, but I think the writer could have offered more variations on her character. This paragraph is incomplete unless I mention those two supporting actors who have made this acting unit shine brighter than it deserves. Ashwini Kalsekar and Atul Kulkarni. What a troupe of talent they are. Believe it or not, in the last two episodes, Atul Kulkarni is even better than the lead actors.
Not minding many of those locations, Rudra could have easily found better things to display. From the episode, you know that it's somehow stuck in the same places, except for those murder premises that take place somewhere else. The cinematography of Rudra was a difficult job to do as it had to bring darkness into the series as well as on the screen. You can't make it too dark because a small screen experience might make it more dull, so it had to find one intermediate point. The same applies for editing too, and I must say, both results are pretty nice. The background score is just superb. It reminded me of Hans Zimmer's score from "The Dark Knight". Now you can imagine how superb it is.
The crime thriller genre is new to director Rajesh Mapuskar. He has done vibrant and light-hearted films like "Ventilator" and "Ferrari Ki Sawaari" and even his filmography as an assistant director belongs to the "Hirani Genre". Rudra is far away from those films; it's very dark and intense, so for a new student, I must say, it's a fine attempt. However, there are unforgivable flaws in the second half of the series that he could have avoided, and he deserves to be blamed for that. Rest assured, it's a watchable crime thriller for crime thriller fans and a must-watch for Ajay Devgn and Raashii Khanna's fans because these two have literally lit up this dark-toned half-dead series. Produced by Applause Entertainment and BBC Studios, Rudra is now streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar.
RATING - 6/10*