Rakshasa movie review: Prajwal Devaraj’s time-loop horror tale is unintentionally funny

2/5

Rakshasa movie story: Satya (Prajwal Devaraj) has not been a cop for three years, but when a superior officer that he respects asks for a personal favour to capture a dangerous gang from the Ongole tribe in Andhra Pradesh, who are suspected to have been involved in a high-profile murder case, he obliges. Mission completed, he heads to the police station to hand over the culprits and leave, but strangely enough, is left having to stay back, as every other officer heads out on some errand or the other.

When he is then apprised that he’s been left behind for a reason, Satya attempts to head home, but is stopped by his mother, who advises him to stay put until the end of a rather bad eclipse. What awaits him inside the station, though, is much worse.

Rakhasa movie review: Mummy Save Me was the film that director Lohith made to show audiences that horror is a genre he is quite good with. He followed that up with Devaki, which was also well received. So, when he announced a horror flick with Prajwal Devaraj, who’d never dabbled with the genre, it was thought the final product would still be good, given that the man at the helm had a proven track record. Alas, that was misplaced trust.

With Rakshasa, Lohith takes several steps back, presenting a rather amateurish attempt at horror. This time, he mixes mythology with horror and introduces a time loop too. The premise is that a demon that had been locked away in a chest is inadvertently set free during an inauspicious eclipse, setting in motion a time-loop of events. Established as a blood-thirsty evil being, this demon, though, seems to have trouble getting back into the thick of things, given the centuries of inactivity it’s had.

It floats around aimlessly in a police station that has its door and windows open and is right outside a train station, meaning that there’s plenty to play with. But it chooses to focus on just one man, randomly opening and closing doors/windows, tripping him over, pulling him by the leg or strangulating him in mid-air, only to then drop him and allow him time to recover. My best guess is that the demon was also winded and needed a breather. This then repeats multiple times, making one wonder what the whole point is. If the demon has anyway chosen to torment him, why is it toying with him?

Check out: Watch Prajwal Devaraj's state award winning performance in Gentleman with OTTplay Premium 

The lack of coherence in the writing is not the worst part of the film. The effects are tacky, especially the rope shots – this is a demon that is considerate enough to haul a child up and down as slowly as someone drawing water from a well. Awwww! The sad bit is that amid all this, Prajwal Devaraj has actually tried his best to salvage the film. The first hour of the film is a rather pointless exercise, with the actual story kicking off thereafter.

Prajwal does a lot of running around and is as earnest as can be. Sadly, it is wasted in a film that aims to be scary but ends up being unintentionally funny. The tragedy is that the team is apparently not done telling the story. Sigh!

Rakshasa movie verdict: This film was released with an addition to the title, Chapter 2, suggesting that a prequel, which will establish Satya's connect to the demon. Perhaps, when seen in totality, the story may make some sense. The way it is now, it gives audiences nothing to cheer about. The rating is mostly for the effort Prajwal Devaraj put into this film. 

If you still fancy watching Rakhasa, it is now available to stream on OTTplay Premium.