The viewing of "Raakshasa" produced by Ramu Films, better known in the Kannada film industry for producing for big budget block busters, will certainly be a delightful departure for the film audience who are used to seeing stereo typed films every week. The film is fast paced and has lot of thrilling sequences which makes you sit on the edge of the seat. The film has rich production values, lot of technical expertise has been put to use for making the film. It is an out of out commercial film, but the narrative part has a distinct style which makes it a different film. Director Sadhu Kokila who has proved his exceptional talents as a comedy actor in the Kannada film industry has really proved that the superlative success of his first directorial venture ''Raktha Kanneeru' is certainly not a fluke and he has many things up his sleeve.
''Raakshasa" tells the story of the dare devil exploits of an assistant commissioner of police Harish Chandra who is selected for tough assignments. He adopts very controversial, risky but questionable methods to eliminate the most hardened criminals in the state who are a bane to the society. Many of the underworld dons are killed in encounters, but majority of the people who have been at the receiving end of the anti social elements are happy. In one of his tough assignments Harish Chandra will take head on a dreaded terrorist Shabir who controls the underworld activities by remote control from abroad. In one of the encounters with Shabir's brother is killed by Harish Chandra, but Shabir escapes. Then an enraged Shabir kills Harish's wife and his loving child when they are on a holiday trip. Harish wants to take Shabir head on, but some of his own department staff are providing information to Shabir. Harish's miseries are compounded when he is removed from the special squad which is looking for arresting or killing Shabir. A frustrated Harish goes out to Mangalore to search for Shabir's wife, but he encounters Shabir and his gang of thugs who try to kill him. Finally, Harish kills Shabir and it is finally revealed that the Police Department will work a game plan to confuse the terrorist.
"Raakshasa" has some breath taking action sequences done by a team of action directors which is certainly a treat to watch. Director Sadhu Kokila has taken care not to make this film as a merely an action oriented film, by presenting the sequences quite differently. There are some touching sequences in the film which are certainly a plus point for the film. The hero's characterization looks logical in the context of the troubles he has encountered. In that way the film also looks natural as many of the sequences in the film are the real life incidents that had occurred in different parts of the state. The first half of the film is brilliant, but the second half of the film looks a little lengthy because of some songs and sequences. They could have been chopped, but still with all these small aberrations the film is thoroughly enjoyable. Sadhu Kokila impresses in his directorial abilities, but as a Music director he should have done a better job.
Shivaraj Kumar has played his role to a perfection, his body language as a no nonsense officer just adds up to the value of the film. His screen dynamism and mannerisms will be immensely liked by his fans. Mumbai based actress Ghazala who has acted in a Kannada film for the first time has a few dance sequences and a couple of sequences to act, but does not impress. Amrutha as the wife of Shivaraj Kumar is only seen in the flash back sequence, but is better of the two heroines. Many of the artists in the film are new for the film industry, but they have been known faces in Television industry and the theatre except Rangayana Raghu who plays a brilliant comeo as the corrupt cop.
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