Title: Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas
Director: Akshay Shere
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Jitendra Kumar, Devas Dikshit, Tara Alisha Berry, Ayesha Kaduskar
Where to watch: Zee5
Rating: 3 stars
Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas Review
Bhagwat Chapter One: Raakshas is a crime thriller starring Arshad Warsi and Jitendra Kumar in pivotal roles. Arshad plays a police inspector who has a reputation that any culprit he catches would most probably return home with a bunch of broken bones which he claims happened by the detainee falling down the stairs or simply landing on a large rock. He is then transferred to Robertsganj in Uttar Pradesh where he is also supposed to undergo 10 anger management therapy lessons. There he takes on a new case where a girl has gone missing, which the politician of the area alleges is a case of religious conversion and love jihad.
However, as he gets deeper into the case he realises that there are a number of women who have gone missing like this in the last few years, who one day went to work and then never returned, all of them being unsolved.
Parallel to this case, a cute love story is brewing between Sameer and Meera, but how are these two timelines connected?
Actors Performances
Post seeing Arshad as Gafoor bhai in The Ba***ds of Bollywood, here is a police inspector with a backstory that binds him to the case he is currently solving. Arshad sticks to the script of him being a no nonsense cop who wants the killer caught.
However, what one looks forward to in this movie is everybody's favourite Jeetu Bhaiya, the role which Jitender became famous for playing in the JEE-NEET drama Kota Factory, as he portrays a negative role probably for the first time in his career. Having done his share of good professor/inspiring individual roles, he now turns to the dark side, but that too not till the second half of the movie.
His loverboy role during the first half is portrayed well and convincingly, until he is caught as the serial killer, but even then the twisted qualities don't kick in. It's during the court scenes when the director gives Jitendra scope to show his evil mixed with highly intelligent side, and that's when you see a completely new Jitendra.
Devas Dikshit as the police constable working under Arshad does justice to his role throughout. Tara Alisha Berry as the materialistic and opportunistic wife fits into her role. Ayesha Kaduskar, who plays Meera, is excellent in her portrayal of a conservative small town woman who falls for a man who pursues her. All other supporting cast members are well chosen.
But I would definitely like to mention that the director and the scriptwriter deserve the maximum credit, two entities who I feel we always speak less about, which is why one is mentioning here that it has been written by Bhavini Bheda, dialogue are by Sumit Saxena and the story is by Bhavini Bheda.
FPJ Verdict
If you're in the mood for a quick crime thriller and want to see Jitendra in a role he's never done before, watch it.
