Raqeeb Movie Reviews

Raqeeb - A true noir thriller
There have been number of films in the recent past that have boasted of being set in noir genre. Sadly, none of them have actually turned out to be truly noir and sunk in a big way.

'Raqeeb' doesn't!

Truly noir in its narration, it takes audience through an exciting ride from the very first frame of the film and leaves you at a point towards the second half of the film when you feel that the story has culminated. But no, that's not the case as the noir narrative gets over after being 30 minutes into the second half and the thriller/horror genre takes over.

This is where one feels like giving director Anurag Singh a pat on the back for trying out different genres in his very first film. While the noir genre remains intact throughout as Sharman Joshi narrates the tale of a poisonous temptress [Tanushree Dutta], there are some comic and romantic moments through that only help the film not become too heavy.

In addition, there are those 'Raj Kanwar inspired' dramatic moments which turn out to be the high points of the film. Watch out for the interval point that brings the three key protagonists Rahul Khanna, Tanushree Dutta and Jimmy Sheirgill face to face, well almost, and you would know why!
The film only takes a turn for the better from this moment on as the pace catches up in the narrative. You have been introduced in the very beginning that Tanushree's character is not the one to be believed and hence there is absolutely no surprise (as intended by the director) when she plots the killing of her billionaire husband Rahul along with the help of her lover, played by Jimmy Sheirgill.

The murder does happen, she plays her move yet again to have Jimmy behind the bars (no one is surprised even at this moment) but there is one link, as agreed by even the character that Sharman plays, which is missing. As an audience you start wondering that how come the narrative is moving way too fast, what was so special about the entire setting if everything was required to be so much visible and on-your-face and what is it that is not meeting the eye!

This is where the narrative takes a different (and an unexpected) twist as you start getting a hint about the game of deceit that was being played in front of your eye all this while. What appeared like Tanushree's world all the time seemed to be inhabited with more than a decade old skeletons tumbling out of the closets at an alarming pace.

The suspense surprises and one starts relating to the little moments that Anurag Singh had embedded in the screenplay from the very beginning of the film. Hence while he fooled audience into considering themselves as too smart to be picking up the bigger hints, he kept the smaller ones close to his chest, hence adding on the shock value. To support this, you are treated to nuances like Rahul Khanna remembering about his past, his wonder-computer that converts a voice into an alphabet, his hacking capabilities, the car accident, Jimmy's eavesdropping on Tanushree's making out with her beau and last but not the least the an entire murder plan and the players involved.

What doesn't work though is the hurried climax that could have been churned out in a better way. Agreed that the fast moving second half is the plus point of the film but why the need to have blow-one-blow-two in the mandatory 'maar-dhaad' sequence in the climax and suddenly the rolling of end titles along with a mandatory promotional number start rolling.
Things are fine till the moment the protagonists get together in a church with the wit-soaked dialogues adding on the drama. But from this moment on there appears to be a compromise from the production perspective as a wrap-up happens way too fast. Moreover meeting of two of the four key protagonists who remain alive only adds on to the feeling of rushed proceedings.

Beyond these minor blemishes, RAQEEB manages to grip the audience as one continues to munch in the popcorn. It isn't great cinema (it wasn't required to be) but turns out to be a crisp two hours time pass fare that keeps one entertained.

One expected the hype surrounding Tanushree's so called three-characters-in-one-body as just a publicity drive but on watching the film, one finds it to be absolutely true. Getting a challenging role to play so early in her career, she enacts her part well and should find her name popping up in the nominations list for the Best Negative Performance. She is present in practically every frame of the film and is pretty convincing as a girl who wants it all...literally! But pray, who is designing her gory costumes? After the weekend celebrations for the release of RAQEEB, the first thing she needs to do is hunt the town for a new designer!

Amongst the men, first 40 minutes belong to Rahul Khanna, subsequent 40 minutes to Jimmy Sheirgill and last 40 minutes to Sharman Joshi hence making it one of the most equally balanced films that have three parallel leads. Rahul plays a quintessential Mr. Goody two shoes man quite well while Sharman is lovable as always in the role of a happy-go-lucky young man. It is Jimmy Sheirgill who one misses though, especially in the second half, because for an angry character that began so well, what was required was a much better culmination.

Vivek Shauq gets the laughs on with his bizarre body v/s mind v/s speech coordination while Vishwajeet Pradhan as a cop is decent. The area where the film lacks though is the gloss that is oh-so-common in today's film. Perhaps since the target audience for the film mainly goes for single screen theaters, Raj Kanwar and his production team may have decided to take it a little easy on that aspect. The film's shooting is primarily indoors and the songs shot on the beaches look all the same. Nevertheless, the opening track 'Dushmana' picturised on Tanushree along with the title roll is quite well shot.

Overall 'Raqeeb' is a 'masala' fare that takes some clichés from the old school of film making and narrates a drama that gets into a '14 saale pehle' mode but still works. There are some cinematic liberties too with dead/arrested men making an appearance but one doesn't stare much in disbelief as 'Raqeeb' never pretended to be a wholesome realistic affair. Watch it in your idle time and you would not be disappointed.