RUDRA:THE EDGE OF DARKNESS - V View Reviews #59

Rudra:The Edge Of Darkness is a debut of Ajay Devgn and Raashi Khanna into the world of OTT. It is a psychological crime drama thriller. The whole series is made keeping Ajay Devgn's persona in mind. The story revolves around him and the criminals. He is the country's favourite on-screen super cop. Here he plays DCP Rudraveer Singh police in a special unit that fights criminals. He gets into the psyche of the heinous culprits and solves the crime. He is different because he deals with peculiar psychologically disturbed criminals. To him, the job is above everything, above the rule book or the family. So his professional life and his personal life is in mess. However, the story of the series begins with his suspension being revoked as the crime in the city of Mumbai are on rising. He deals with serial killers, paedophiles, rapists, deranged officers in different episodes. Each episode has a different case, a new threat and a new villain. In the first episode, he meets the genius sociopath Aliyah( Raashi Khanna) and makes her a new friend. She gives crucial advice to crack the case. Esha Deol plays his wife Shaila, a typical wife portrayed in Hindi show. These two subplots connect all six episodes in a single thread.

This series is an official remake of the BBC series LUTHER by Neil Cross. It is adapted well in Hindi, directed by Rajesh Mapuskar, written by Jay Sheela Bansal and produced by Sameer Nair. Dialogues and actions are decent, editing is ok, the background score is fine and sets the mood of the show. The camera department too does well with a dark visual tone. But the highlight of the series is its key casting. The good actors and the well-drawn characters hold the attention of the audience. Ajay Devgn carries the whole series on his shoulders and won the audience's heart. He is the protagonist, the front and the centre of the series. His intense acting is his trademark. He is effortless in expressing the deep emotions of his personal life. He is well supported by Raashi Khanna. Their chemistry is the highlight of the show. She shines as a smart, confident, vicious, classy evil and is a scene-stealer. The show has a brilliant supporting cast like Ashwini Kalsekar, who plays a female cop commissioner Deepali Hande. She is a veteran actor and very dependable. Then Atul Kulkarni again is an excellent performer and shines bright. Ashish Vidhyarthi, the newcomer Tarun Gahlot and Satyadeep Mishra justified their role. Isha Deol didn't have much to do but was decent enough. She kept swinging between her ex and her current lover. The terrific performance by the baddies Hemant Kher, Luke Kenny, Milind Gunaji shines as an actor, highly intelligent criminals.

The good point is its cast, the beginning and end. The drawback is its uneven tone and pace, especially the middle portion which reduces the grip. The excessive length of each episode is also boring. The crime setup is intriguing but the investigation part is boring.

If you are fond of crime drama, the psychos, murders, broken marriages, the war between good and evil and if you are a fan of Ajay Devgn, the right place is on Disney+Hotstar. I would rate it 3.5/5.