It won’t be wrong to say that Anurag Kashyap’s “Raman Raghav 2.0” has created a lot of buzz which is apparent owing to the fact that a number of individuals in Cannes already saw it.
A neo-noir movie depicting the story of a 60s Mumbai serial killer, “Raman Raghav 2.0” is titled after the name of lead character; however, as per reports, it showed a disclaimer in the beginning which claims that it isn’t associated with him. What’s more, you can see how Mumbai was during 60s when it was called Bombay along with themes like good vs. evil!
In 5 years, it marks Anurag’s 3rd entry in Directors’ Fortnight section, the other two being “Gangs Of Wasseypur” and “Ugly”. It was on Monday that “Raman Raghav 2.0” was premiered at Cannes and ever since, a number of international media houses published its reviews.
The movie’s feel as well as tone are appreciated by Screen Daily which points out a negative thing about characters being underdeveloped too! This is what Wendy Ide’s review reads, “It’s a propulsive and bloodthirsty thriller with a brash use of music and a jangling, adrenalised energy which rarely flags. It should connect with a young Indian audience, both domestically and within the wider diaspora, looking for a hip, confrontational alternative to mainstream Hindi cinema.”
‘Variety’ applauded stylistic elements of “Raman Raghav 2.0” but at one fell swoop, pointed out of its being more of interest to international audience. As written by Guy Lodge, “Domestic commercial returns for this unabashedly sensation-seeking outing may well be healthy enough to give that [a sequel] possibility a blood-spattered green light, though one hopes Kashyap — whose limber, enthusiastic work here jolts more than it actively surprises — has his eye on fresh genre terrain to exploit.”
As per ‘Hollywood Reporter’, Kashyap is “India’s most exciting crossover filmmakers”; however, as Deborah Young wrote, “The story could have turned into one huge cliché, and there are genre elements that are numbingly familiar, was it not for the exceptionally scary performance of Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the role of the villainous, demented serial killer.”
Even though it’s the 3rd entry of Director Anurag Kashyap, Nawazuddin Siddiqui regularly appears at Cannes. As far as his first ever entry is concerned, it was with Ashim Ahluwalia’s “Miss Lovely” and later it went bigger and better for the actor with 5 movies, “Gangs of Wasseypur”, “Monsoon Shootout”, “The Lunchbox”, “Bombay Talkies” and recently Raman Raghav 2.0.
