'Raman Raghav 2.0': Cleverly crafted, compelling

"Raman Raghav 2.0" is Anurag Kashyap's take on the psychotic serial killer Raman Raghav who terrorised Mumbai during the late 1960s. He had apparently bludgeoned 41 people to death using a bent iron rod. This is not a biopic but a twisted fiction that encapsulates the life of two soulmates; the scar-faced serial killer Ramanna who also called himself Sindhi Dalwai, and the addicted to drugs Police Inspector, Raghavendra Singh Ubbi who was initially investigating the killings. Narrated in a linear fashion and set in 2013, the narration begins in a nightclub with pounding music and free flowing drugs. Raghavendra, high on drugs, leaves the nightclub with a woman he picked up that night. En route to his residence, he stops in Kidwai Nagar to pick up more drugs. But when he lands up at the residence of his drug supplier, he realises that the old man has been attacked brutally. Raghavendra does not hesitate to take advantage of the situation by stealing his drug supply, but not before murdering another intruder who lands up at the crime scene minutes later. This scene forms the prologue to the drama, which is encapsulated in eight chapters that unfurl with gripping flourish of how Ramanna stalks Raghav and their lives are intertwined. It also overturns expectations in the finale, to create an impactful and convincing drama.