An ambitious venture that fails to deliver

The best compliment one can give ‘Raaghu’ is that it is a noteworthy experiment gone wrong. 

Just like an amateur surgeon trying a complicated surgery only to realise that he does not have the required skill or tools to complete the job, debutant director Anand Raj attempts a ‘solo act’, which has resulted in a mess.

As a genre, solo acts may be common on stage, but it is rarely attempted on celluloid. In that sense, Raj is ambitious and, at times, also praiseworthy for his painstaking approach. It’s a complex tale that takes place overnight and has just one real character visible on the screen right through the film.

Raaghu is a medicine delivery executive who works at night. He also doubles up as a thief who robs the same houses after finding out when it will be empty. One such robbery, this time with an accomplice, goes awry and Raaghu is haunted by it for the rest of the film.

It’s clear right from the beginning that the plot is too prosaic to pack the necessary punches and turn it into a new-age suspense thriller. And the fact that the director wants a single character to convey all angles of the story and the sub-plots further shackles the narrative.

For Vijay Raghavendra, the most underrated actor in Sandalwood, it could have been a career-defining role, but poor writing leaves him doing all the heavy lifting without a sense of purpose. Yet that he manages to impress underlines his belief in himself.

The only saving grace, if one can say so, is the screen time of 93 minutes which may stress your brain for sure, but not your bladder.