'Rakkasapuradhol' movie review: Another loud and empty horror flick

There has been a fervent drive in the film industry to conjoin thrillers, dramas, and comedies with supernatural stories. Although these films claim a freshness in an industry exhausted by an otherwise star-driven lethargy, the films themselves seem to struggle with a mania of templated storytelling — a trend that has tragically becoming a norm.

Set in a fictional town called Rakkasapura, inspector Shiva (played by Raj Shetty), investigates a series of murders and kidnappings, locally misunderstood as shenanigans of a kolli devva. Underwhelming performances by the leads are coupled with expositions that lead to nowhere and a dry whodunnit plot. It is made worse with ‘soap opera-esque’ editing and irreparable character conventions (to a point where Shetty’s character has an immortal plot armour).

The story, possibly written also with the intention of examining Shetty’s character, drops the ball with the staleness of his character.

While hero dramas demand a strong antagonist to derive depth in the protagonist’s role, the passive conflict between Aadi (played by Anirudh Bhat) and Shiva, bring that into question, too. Shiva’s conflicts with his
atheism gets brushed under the rug as the movie progresses, while his personal resolutions, fleshed out weakly throughout the film, see rapid resolutions towards the end. The ending also seemed to be frenzily hinting at a sequel — a trend that is gradually taking over the industry.

Amidst all this, the life and mood that the production design brings seems to be quickly overtaken by the shrill and unnecessary loudness of the background music, while obvious plotholes makes the film a very confusing watch.