Raman Raghav 2.0- What the Director wanted us to see

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Art as a medium of expression has unlimited powers. Art has a direct entry into your subconscious, bypassing the nervous system. The world has always been in awe of painters, musicians, craftsmen, illustrators, sportspersons among others. They yield the power of expression through art. Leonardo Da Vinci, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are some of the fine examples of people who produced awe-inspiring art.

Since the advent of large screen exhibition of motion pictures, the cinematic experience has held centre stage in the art world. Dadasaheb Phalke, who made the first motion picture in India, unleashed a thought which influences everyone till date. There have been some fine film-makers in India over the years. We need to add Anurag Kashyap to this pantheon of directors, if he already was not added.

Anurag Kashyap’s latest movie Raman Raghav 2.0 talks about the infamous serial killer Raman Raghav of the 1960s. Anurag Kashyap could have easily made a film of how the murders take place and how the police find him and send him to jail. But cinema is not about showing what is known. It is about showing a different perspective about the unknown or relating it to the current society at large.

This movie challenges the notions of good and bad in the society. We all are grey in our thoughts, behaviour and actions.

The movie shows wonderfully that there is no difference between a psychopath and a destructive mind. Raman (psychopath killer) kills people out of anger or lack of control over his mind. Raghav (policeman who is looking out for Raghav) kills people willingly knowing all too well about the action he is performing.

The last scene of the film showing the talk between Raman and Raghav. Raman talks of intelligent people with a destructive mind using religion or politics or police uniform as a means to justify their unethical and violent side. He talks of current day Syria. He talks of current day politics.

The movie shows the kind of effect drugs has on even a well-educated and well-formed human mind. It cannot differentiate between day and night. It cannot differentiate between family and enemies. It cannot differentiate between love and lust. All of Raghav’s actions depict this in the most effective manner.

At the start of the movie, it said that the movie was not about the killer Raman but about the other guy who was finding him. You understand this line at the end of the movie. And then you join the dots to get the full picture.

The movie is dark, gory and uncomfortable in various scenes. The movie had rave reviews when it was shown at the Directors’ fortnight Cannes 2016. It however, failed with the Indian audiences. Anurag Kashyap though is setting new benchmarks in the Indian film industry with the kind of cinema he is offering. He has got his due since the last few years but I am sure his best is yet to come.