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The Raikar Case Review – Inconsistent but a Watchable Murder Mystery

By Srivathsan Nadadhur - Apr 09, 2020 @ 07:04 pm
5.5 / 10
The-Raikar--Case

BOTTOM LINE: Inconsistent but a Watchable Murder Mystery

Rating: 5.5/10

Platform: Voot Select Genre: Drama

What Is the Story About?

The Goan family, Naik Raikars, is shaken when they come to know of the teenager Tarun’s mysterious death – initially believed to be a suicide but is proved to be a cold-blooded murder sooner. Yashwant Raikar, the patriarch of the family and his daughter Etasha are doing their best to keep their calm in this testing hour, and so are Tarun’s mom, his aunts and cousins. John Pereira, the local cop leading the investigation of the murder, suspects someone within the family is behind Tarun’s death. A can of ugly secrets threatens to remove the veil that has safeguarded the Raikars to date. Will Tarun’s killer ever be found?

Performances?

Atul Kulkarni is a tailormade choice to play a family patriarch with immense political ambition – he aces the fine balance between being a doting father and a flawed, power-hungry figure. Neil Bhoopalam is an effective actor beyond doubt – however, it seems that he has mistaken the cop’s focus for stiffness in his histrionics. It’s a welcome surprise to see the return of Ashwini Bhave in a smartly conceived role – her old-school dramatics work well as a shield to the many layers in her characterisation. Parul Gulati’s character serves as an emotional anchor of the show amid all its peculiarities – although she could do more to widen her expressional range. Kunal Karan Kapoor’s role isn’t fleshed out as well as his other actor-counterparts, though he makes a good meal of it.

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Analysis

Hindi entertainment industry’s growing love to explore the dynamics within a dysfunctional family yet again comes to the fore with The Raikar Case, a family drama in the guise of a murder mystery. The death of a youngster in the show is almost metaphoric – it is used as a hook to sustain the narrative tension but works better as an incident that openly exposes the cracks within a joint family. The show is an anti-thesis to the Sooraj Barjatya universe where everyone within the family is excessively sweet or transform themselves to be an epitome of generosity. Every character in The Raikar Case has a shady dimension – no one is spared.

The element of suspense in unearthing a killer among a bunch of equally flawed characters is immense. Yashwant’s political ambition, the sibling rivalry in the second generation to take over a business empire, a cousin trying to outrage the modesty of his sister, a woman’s desperate measure to safeguard the honour of the family – the story examines the murder from many dimensions. This facet of the show helps its intrigue to a certain extent but the conflicts become so many that you lose track of them soon. The characters aren’t fleshed out greatly either and their behaviour is sometimes outlandish – probably to keep the viewer curious about their mysteries, but the ploy doesn’t often work.

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Amid all the tension, the subplot of the investigative cop’s romance with a girl belonging to the Raikar family is problematic. It doesn’t only rob the focus of the narrative away from its core plot, but also reflects the compromised ethics and the conflict of interest of a cop who’s in the middle of an investigation with the family (of the girl he’s romantically involved with).  The police department’s efforts during the investigation are hasty – they rely more on gut instinct than concrete evidence. The pivotal character Etasha does a better job with the investigation than the cop.

The director Aditya Sirpotdar makes his treatment more cinematic than realistic. He envisages a smart premise, but the writing is inconsistent and sometimes overcooked – say the combination of power-rivalry, LGBT angle, political conflict feels a lot like ‘narrative calculation’ and doesn’t come together organically. In terms of the instantaneous highs, the joys are aplenty for the viewer.  However, the bits-and-pieces narrative doesn’t impress on the whole. Visually, it’s surprising that Goa’s landscapes aren’t an integral element of the storytelling. The Raikar Case looks set for a season two – an opportunity it should ideally utilise to redeem itself.

Music and Other Departments?

The background score is efficient in tapping into the many layers of the story – it’s basic and doesn’t experiment beyond the obvious, which however suffices for show.  With the picturisation though, the show falls short on imagination – it needed better focus on the atmospherics and the visual mood to draw you into the story. The lighting and colour grading choices are poor. The episodes are structured neatly, with the hook-elements being strong but were the voice-overs necessary?

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Highlights?

Good premise

Intriguing execution

Drawbacks?

Numerous subplots that take the focus away from the story

Not-so-great technical standards

Did I Enjoy It?

In parts

Will You Recommend It?

For thriller enthusiasts

Review by Srivathsan Nadadhur

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