Raahu is a small time film with new cast and crew. The film generated decent buzz with intriguing promotions. Let’s see whether the film is as engaging as the trailer.
Bhanu (Kriti Garg), daughter of a strict police officer suffers from a psychological disorder of hysterical blindness. She loses her vision temporarily whenever she sees something ghastly. Bhanu’s dad in a shootout arrests a most wanted criminal Nagaraju (Kalakeya Prabhakar) and kills his brother. Nagarju then challenges to kill Bhanu once he is out from the jail. After 12 years passed, Bhanu marries her boyfriend Sesh (Abe Raam Varma) secretly since her dad disagrees to their alliance because Sesh has Rahu Dosham. Meanwhile, Nagaraju escapes from police and at the same time Bhanu gets kidnapped. How Bhanu survives in the biggest battle forms crux of the story.
Subbu Vedula opted an interesting story and the film has few unexpected twists. There are some spine chilling moments too. Especially, last 20 to 30 minutes was action-packed. Nonetheless, the debutante showed his inexperience in making this a thorough engaging watch. Apparently, budget constraints also restricted the director to compromise on few things. Suresh Ragutu and Eshwar Yellumahanthi's camera work and Praveen Lakkaraju’s music are good. Amar Reddy’s editing work is mediocre. Production values are just fine.
Onto artists, Kriti Garg has come up with a wonderful performance. She steals the show with her action-packed performance in second half. Abe Raam Varma is good in the role with different shades. Kalakeya Prabhakar is apt in his role as a gangster. Chalaki Chanti is funny, so is Satyam Rajesh in a brief role. Others were okay.
Plotline
Kriti Garg
Screenplay
Direction
Production Values
Insufficient Entertaining Elements
Raahu is not a supernatural horror film as predicted. It is a thriller with different concept. Nonetheless, the leisure pace of narration played spoilsport. While first half was okay, second half had some unexpected elements. Last portions were dealt efficiently.
The film begins depicting the problem of Kriti Garg who becomes temporarily blind when she sees blood or witnesses horrific incident. The initial premise setup gives an idea about what the film is all about. The shootout episode was poorly handled. Chalaki Chanti and co brings some relief in the kidnap drama, when nothing excites until then. The romantic track also lacked the flavor. Interval bang is somehow convincing.
The latter half begins on tedious note. Things turn bit interesting, eversince Kriti Garg enters the Guest House where she accidentally meets Prabhakar. The final twist and the following episodes are the only saving grace. Movie ends on happy note with Kriti Garg ending her fight as a winner.
All in all, Raahu is a mediocre film with few thrills. Subbu Vedula should have worked more on the script. However, he got good support from few actors and technicians. CJ goes with 2.25 star ratings.