Rautu
Ka
Raaz
is
a
dragged-out
slow
burner
of
a
film
that
just
fails
to
ignite,
sighs
Mayur
Sanap.
Deepak
Negi
(Nawazuddin
Siddiqui)
is
a
sharp
but
grumpy
cop,
dealing
with
PTSD.
He
is
detached
from
his
elderly
parents
and
lives
a
lonely
life
in
an
Uttarakhand
town
named
Rautu
Ki
Beli,
where
he
is
currently
posted.
The
mysterious
death
of
Sangeeta
(Narayani
Shastri),
a
warden
at
a
local
blind
school,
shakes
the
village
community.
Negi
digs
into
the
case
and
realises
there’s
more
here
than
meets
the
eye.
What
was
initially
assumed
as
a
death
by
natural
cause
gradually
turns
out
to
be
a
planned
murder,
which
leads
to
more
secrets
tumbling
out.
Like
a
good
mystery,
this
is
a
good
enough
plot
to
keep
us
invested
and
guessing.
But
Director
Anand
Surapur,
along
with
his
co-writer
Shariq
Patel,
presents
you
the
story
with
unvaried
conviction
which
makes
this
film
feel
like
an
episode
from
a
television
crime
show
or
at
best,
like
an
ordinary
theatre
play.
A
murder
mystery
unfolding
in
the
hills
of
Uttarakhand
is
a
sub-genre
in
Bollywood
at
this
point.
Thankfully,
Rautu
Ka
Raaz
slightly
differs
itself
from
those
films
with
its
absurd
comedy
approach.
Even
though
the
title
sounds
like
a
dark
chapter
from
Champak
comics,
there’s
an
air
of
light-heartedness
that
tries
to
twist
the
genre
elements,
albeit
only
intermittently.
The
story
relies
on
many
backstories
within
its
main
characters
as
the
mystery
deepens.
The
first
two
thirds
of
the
film
are
put
to
develop
the
characters,
and
it’s
not
till
the
third
act
where
you
start
seeing
where
it
is
all
leading
to.
Even
then,
the
predictability
and
clichés
creep
in
that
water
down
the
climactic
reveal.
Besides
Negi,
none
of
the
other
characters
hold
our
interest
and
there’s
nothing
unique
about
them.
The
relationship
between
Negi
and
his
subordinates
also
feels
monotonous,
which
is
mostly
laced
with
out-of-place
humour.
What
hurts
the
film
most
is
that
Nawazuddin
Siddiqui
doesn’t
have
much
to
do
as
he
meanders
from
scene
to
scene
in
a
very
basic
part.
There
are
no
punchy
lines
or
scene-grabbing
oddities
that
made
his
previous
cop
outing
in
Raat
Akeli
Hai
so
much
more
delicious.
It
is
a
straight-forward
performance
and
despite
Siddiqui’s
screen
presence,
he
fails
to
lift
up
this
sluggish
affair.
The
overall
result
is
a
dragged-out
slow
burner
of
a
film
that
just
fails
to
ignite.
Rautu
Ka
Raaz
streams
on
ZEE5.
Rautu
Ka
Raaz
Review
Rediff
Rating:
