Rudhiram movie review: Raj B Shetty, Aparna Balamurali’s survival thriller lacks bite to keep you interested

2.5/5

Rudhiram story: Dr Mathew Rosy, who is loved by the residents of his hillside village where he is stationed, for going out of his way to help those in need, also has another side – one that makes him torture people at his house. What are his intentions for holding these people captive and will any of them break free?

Rudhiram review: After the first half of debutant director Jisho Lon Antony’s Rudhiram, starring Raj B Shetty and Aparna Balamurali, two big questions persist - Who is Dr Mathew (Raj B Shetty), a ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ personality? How will one of his captives escape his house of torture? While the latter is answered predictably, the former gets an explanation that fails to evoke any sympathy for its character. And the lacklustre writing is to blame for this.

Given its plot, a wafer-thin one at that, Rudhiram could have still become a gripping survival thriller if it had used its devices of a captive escaping her torture chamber and the revelation of why the captor had her in the first place. Jisho, who has co-written the screenplay with Joseph Kiran George, however, fails to keep the scenes gripping enough. Instead, they focus on dividing the film into two halves – one where the audience has to detest Dr Mathew and yet leave enough room to show that there will be a surprise coming. But by the time this arrives, it doesn’t quite have the desired effect, because it’s delayed and what precedes it is a tedious hour of how one of the captives escapes the house she has been tortured in.

Also read: Raj B Shetty on taking up Rudhiram: ‘The writing of the characters was brilliant’ 

The explanations for Dr Mathew’s reasons for his actions come too late for anyone to care about him. Even this, if it had been done earlier and with some heart, could have left the film with an impactful climax, at least.

Another huge reason Rudhiram doesn’t get the impact that the makers could have been aiming at is that Raj B Shetty never once feels like a threat to any of the captives. Make no mistake, this has nothing to do with his physicality, as the actor has more than once proved he can bring intensity to his roles, Garuda Gamana Vrishaba Vahana is proof enough. But the writing of the character makes it tough for him to sink his teeth deep into it. Some of the sequences, where he has to yell at his captors in Malayalam, feel forced.

Also read: Rudhiram star Aparna Balamurali on fight sequences: ‘Have not done anything unrealistically’ 

Aparna too, for a major part of the film, is stuck in a room, trying to plot his escape with just a rat and dog for company. Again, this could have been gripping, with frequent visits from her captor. Instead, she is conveniently left to her devices – releasing any sort of suspense that’s required to sustain a survival thriller.

The movie’s cinematography by Sajad Kaakku, especially in the second half, keeps the visuals fresh. But Rudhiram feels like a wasted opportunity because it doesn’t do justice to its genre or its talent. Given that the film is helmed by a debutant and has several relative newcomers as part of the cast and crew, the movie does have a few scenes - especially the explanation at the end - as well as some methods of how Aparna's character tries to make her way out, that shows that some thought has gone behind the script, but the execution was required to make it effective.

Rudhiram verdict: Raj B Shetty and Aparna Balamurali’s survival thriller fails to engage the audience and ends up being a rather flat film that required better writing to do justice to its genre.