Raman Raghav 2.0

Plot

Raman Raghav was a deadly criminal in the 60s. He terrorized the city with his brutal killings. In 2015, Mumbai finds a similar psychopath in Ramanna. The tabloids label him as stoneman. The first few murders he commits is with a stone. On the night of his first murder, a cocaine addict comes looking for his supply. Just a few days later, Ramanna surrenders to the police. The man who interrogates him is the same cocaine addict. The cops don't buy his story and hence they lock him up, beat him and don't give him food. A bunch of boys find Ramanna a few days later and free him. The man loses his cool. He finds his next prey in his own sister. She lives in a lower middle class household with her husband and son. In the pretext of being hungry, he enters her home. When her husband angers him, he leaves home in a fit of rage. He returns as Ramanna the killer and attacks the family, killing them all. When Raghavan comes to investigate, he and his team find an old picture of Ramanna and his sister and try to trace a link. Meanwhile, Raghavan is in an open relationship with a woman named Simy. She undergoes three abortions for him, just because he cannot commit to her. Their relationship is dark and abusive and Raghavan is simply destructive. As Raghavan looks for clues in the murder, he finds himself Completely consumed by cocaine. Meanwhile, Ramanna is looking for his soul mate, his other half and finds him in Raghavan. He keeps a close check on Simy and ends up murdering her maid as well. Simy is shocked at Raghavan's callousness. After a night of over cocaine, he hooks up with a girl at Simy's place. Simy reacts and Raghavan kills her in a fit of rage. Ramanna surrenders to Raghavan and tells him how they are the two sides of the same coin. The film ends with Raghavan going after the girl whom he hooked up with and is the only witness to Simy's murder.

Cast

Origin

The film is inspired by the notorious serial killer Raman Raghav, who operated in Mumbai during the late 1960s, but it essentially is not a film about him. He used a regular steel rod to reduce human faces to severed heads and broken skulls. He was later captured by the Mumbai police and later confessed the crimes he had committed. Raghav confessed to have committed 41 murders. He was sentenced to death by the Bombay High Court, but it was later changed to life imprisonment after his defense pleaded that he was "mentally incapable of making conscious decisions hence did not know that his acts were unlawful".

Casting, further development and filming

After the release of Masaan (2015), Kashyap told its lead actor Vicky Kaushal to play the role of a cop for his film. He gave Kaushal two scenes and five days to prepare for the audition. He also asked Kaushal to interpret the role in the way he wanted to. To prepare, Kaushal locked himself in a room for five days without phone, television or newspaper. He gave the audition and was selected. Nawazuddin Siddiqui was cast in the title role of the serial killer. Miss Earth India 2013, Sobhita Dhulipala made her acting debut with this film.

Kashyap had wanted to make a film on the serial killer Raman Raghav, but the budget constraints did not allow him to make a period film set in the 1960s. He said that Raman Raghav 2.0 is not a biopic: "This is actually inspired from him because that character is in the 1960s and this film is based in today’s times. It’s difficult because you’re starting to say something, you’re treading a very dangerous line and you have your own sense of responsibility ... If it would’ve been a biopic it would have been 10 times more difficult."

Filming began in September 2015, and shooting was completed on 22 November 2015. Raman Raghav 2.0 was shot in 20 days because of a shoestring budget. Kashyap wrote smaller scenes: "Normal Hindi films have 70 scenes, my films have 220 scenes". It helped in making the film look bigger as the locations kept changing. The title was decided before the script was ready.

The crew employed guerrilla filmmaking technique to shoot in real locations of Mumbai. While shooting, as a result of the unhygienic surroundings, Siddiqui fell seriously ill and was hospitalised for five days. His wife later said that Siddiqui was repeating his dialogues from the film, while being semi-conscious. The diagnosis showed dengue initially. However, it was proven wrong when he recovered quickly. He resumed shooting for the film as soon as he was discharged. Siddiqui called the shoot a "mentally draining" experience.

Marketing

On 24 April 2016, Anurag Kashyap released two teaser poster's of the film through his official Twitter account. The first look poster was revealed on April 25, 2016, which showed Siddiqui staring in front with his red eyes. A second poster was released on May 1 which featured the half faces of both Kaushal and Siddiqui. The first teaser of Raman Raghav 2.0 was released on 6 May 2016, with a runtime of 46 seconds. It was followed by three other teasers which showed a glimpse of the serial killer. The theatrical trailer of Raman Raghav 2.0 was released on 10 May 2016.

Premiere

Raman Raghav 2.0 premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, in the Directors' Fortnight section to positive response. Nawazuddin Siddiqui received a standing ovation post the screening of the film.

Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter 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 Ramanna." Further noting the lack of character-depth of female characters, "Variety and depth of character are badly lacking on the female front, weakening the whole film." Guy Lodge from Variety labelled Siddiqui's performance "[has] literally unblinking intensity". He further added, "Anurag Kashyap riffs on a grisly episode of Mumbai history in his luridly absorbing serial killer thriller." Wendy Ide from Screen International reviewed: "It’s a propulsive and bloodthirsty thriller with a brash use of music and a jangling, adrenalised energy which rarely flags." Further noting, "What the film lacks is the sense of a Manhunter-style battle of wits."

The film also premiered at the 2016 Sydney Film Festival, the Singapore International Film Festival, and the Fantasia International Film Festival, where Patrick Cooper of Bloody Disgusting wrote: "If you only think of Bollywood when you think of Indian film, Psycho Raman will knock some sense into you, as it stands up with the grittiest American serial killer thrillers."