Rakht Charitra Review By Komal Nahta

For a long part of the drama, the police is shown to be on the side of Narasimha’s men but suddenly, out of the blue, comes along police officer Ashwini (Ashwini Kalsekar) who seems to be principled. However, even she is unable to do much because her seniors are corrupt. When she does get a chance to punish Bukka Reddy, he murders her. Due to all this, there is just no exhilaration experienced by the audience. Why, the viewer doesn’t feel as elated as he should, even when Pratap Ravi avenges the murders of his father and brother by killing the opponents one by one, or even when he wins the elections and is gifted a palatial house for himself and his family to stay in. This is because of three reasons: one, even Pratap Ravi appears to be a villain after a point of time; two, the countless murders get on his nerves and irritate him rather than elevating his mood; thirdly, the whole action drama has been presented in such a simplistic way that it would appear, killing is no different from waking up in the morning after a good night’s sleep.

Actually, the screenplay (penned by Ram Gopal Varma and Prashant Pandey) is only about plotting, planning and executing murders and little else. This sets off monotony for the audience. Shivaji taking Pratap Ravi under his wings seems to be a convenient twist in the tale because before this, Pratap Ravi has hardly been shown to be a man of the masses. Rather, Shivaji’s supporters are so many that it looks funny that he should need the help of Pratap Ravi to win elections. Also, the climax looks abrupt if only because it speaks about the beginning of the sequel. Therefore, the audience does not experience the high it should as the ending is not ‘conclusive’ in that sense of the term. Even before the climax begins, Pratap Ravi announcing his decision to let Babu electrician (Om Prakash) kill Bukka Reddy is hardly heartwarming, which it ought to have been. Also, the whole drama is so long and boring that the impact of the thrill element is reduced. Dialogues (Prashant Pandey) are effective.