‘Raakshasa’ Series Review: An Intriguing Watch That Stops Short Of Being Riveting

Raakshasa is an interesting update on the popular Tamil ZEE5 original Vilangu (2022). The setting here is North Karnataka, and the sweet-faced cop is Vijay Raghavendra, who, with a newborn on the way, is scrambling to solve a head-breaking case. It is a tricky proposition, remaking a beloved intimate thriller, for different sensibilities. Vilangu was one of the first Tamil originals to really turn heads in the streaming landscape, and rehashing an acclaimed favourite comes with its risks. But Raakshasa mostly manages to carve out its own identity.

Hanmappa (Vijay Raghavendra) is an honest police officer stationed in a sleepy town in North Karnataka. His biggest concern in life is coming back home on time to his heavily pregnant wife, Jyothi, for whom he has run away from home. Of course, these problems vanish when people in his town go missing, and an ominous crocodile is offhandedly blamed for it. But Hanmappa knows what’s up. “As humans, our lives are already miserable. Why do we blame animals?” he asks. Body parts show up in backwaters as the village gets ready for its temple festival.

When the head of one such missing person’s corpse goes missing, the sleepy police station turns into a circus of mayhem. Hanmappa does most of the heavy lifting, taking responsibility for the head, paying off morticians, and keeping the cells in order. Raghavendra is sincere and moving as the new father, who struggles to keep his wife and the station commissioner happy. But unlike Vilangu, the show barely makes use of its secondary characters to push the story forward. Yelappa, Hanmappa’s best friend and aide, barely registers any emotion and is only known in the station as the designated accused thrasher. Jyothi, played by Mayuri, fleshes out the undercurrents of their inter-caste marriage, but the writing, which is crammed into 20-minute episodes, fails to do these details any justice. 

A still from 'Raakshasa'

While the show pulls us in with its economical and sturdy pacing, this also makes the plotting appear dense when it isn’t. Within three episodes, when we’ve cracked the whodunit, we’re looking for richness and complexity in emotions. The show is quite aware of the problem with the early reveal. It sharply uses the rest of the episode to marinate in the killer (played brilliantly by the actor) and their backstory to satisfactory effect. But it doesn't deliver the same thrills with the other elements. Halfway through the series, we’ve forgotten the crocodile, and so have the writers.

The Yelamma temple festival, which is introduced as a compelling layer of this investigation, is underused in a show that seeks various philosophical answers to questions of privilege, faith and kindness. But what really holds the series together are Hanmappa and his alter ego, who keep us on the edge of our seats, even when we know what's coming.