Art & Entertainment

‘Rudra’ Review: Ajay Devgn’s Fab Act As A Super Cop Not Enough To Uplift The Stale And Dated Story

Actor Ajay Devgn’s ‘Rudra’ has been released today on Disney+ Hotstar. The show is a remake of the British thriller ‘Luther’ starring Idris Elba. Here’s the review of ‘Rudra’.

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Ajay Devgn's 'Rudra' Review
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Director

Rajesh Mapuskar

Cast

Ajay Devgn, Esha Deol, Raashi Khanna, Atul Kulkarni, Ashwini Kalsekar, Ashish Vidyarthi, Milind Gunaji, Luke Kenny, Vikram Singh Chauhan, Hemant Kher, Saad Chaudhary

What’s It About

‘Rudra’ is a race-against-the-clock thriller set in Mumbai that digs into the minds of extremely brilliant criminals and the detective who chases them. Even while the broad series plot continues, each episode in the series introduces a new threat, depicting the tremendous personal cost at which DCP Rudra Veer Singh (played by actor Ajay Devgn) hunts criminals and murders and the unexpected bond that he builds with Aliyah, a clever psychopath (played by actress Rashii Khanna). Will Singh be able to hunt down the criminals before the next crime is committed? Or will he falter and the 

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What’s Hot

Ajay Devgn is the only one who’s damn good. Even though he is much somber than the original character of ‘Luther’ played by Idris Elba, there is a certain sense of smooth killer instinct in Devgn’s eyes, which makes his character stand out differently from Elba. 

Another thing that director Rajesh Mapuskar has to be credited with is staying true to the original. Not many films or shows which are remakes try to stay true to its original international counterpart. But in ‘Rudra’ you’ll see a frame by frame and scene by scene similarity from ‘Luther’. They’ve stayed true to the original script, just seems that the locations are changed.

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What’s Not

Even though Devgn’s act is good, his performance looks a bit too forced whenever you’re seeing him try to make the scene louder and make the eccentricity look at par with Elba. The breaking of the door or toppling of the work desk don’t come out that nicely from Devgn as it was with Elba. 

Why is Esha Deol even there? I agree she is trying to make a return to the screen after a long time, but it doesn’t mean she should pick up just about anything. Indira Varma playing the same character in the original was far more convincing, and her performance made it for more relatable for the audiences to believe on that character.

The sexual tension between Devgn and Rashii Khanna’s character wasn’t coming out that well. Khanna, even though she played the character well, was let down by some poor writing of the dialogues. When in the ‘Luther’ Ruth Wilson playing the same character says those same lines to Elba, you can cut through the tension between the two with a razor sharp knife. Here Khanna-Devgn chemistry is too ‘thanda’.

Even an actor of the caliber of Satyadeep Mishra has been wasted in a miniscule of a role. Now I know the original ‘Luther’ as well didn’t have too much depth in that character, but in the later seasons the character becomes an important piece in the puzzle. Hopefully we get to see more of Mishra in the coming seasons.

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The other major let down was the setting of the entire show. The characters have been shown from posh South Bombay locations which was quite contrary to what ‘Luther’ had. The setting of ‘Luther’ was not in downtown London, but in remote corners of the city which made the killings and the crimes look more authentic. The set up would have been much better had the story been shown mostly revolving around the crimes and murders of far off suburban Mumbai, say like a place like Badlapur or Bhayander. The setting would have looked more realistic.

Lastly, the writing of the show is the major shortcoming. For the unversed, the first season of ‘Luther’ came in 2010. When you remake that show keeping exactly the same killings, murders, and crimes, at least one should take into account the changing technologies over the years. It’s 2022 and no longer 2010 therefore, there are instances in the show where you feel like saying ‘I don’t think this happens in this way in real life anymore’. A little bit of tweaks here and there would have made this a really worth your time.

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Verdict

For most Indians having watched detective shows like ‘CID’ for the past 25 years or so, ‘Rudra’ is a way better option. So, from the Indian viewer’s perspective, it’s a decent enough thriller and indeed a one-time watch. And for everyone who has watched ‘Luther’, Ajay Devgn’s ‘Rudra’ is totally avoidable. I am going with 2.5 stars.

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